Brainy's Confession
by SuprSingr
Summary: Brainy has a confession to make, and it's going to be throwing EVERYONE for a loop... especially Arnold.
1. Only the Beginning

**Brainy's Confession**

**Chapter 1**

A ten year old Brainy stared at Helga in adoration from his seat in the cafeteria, as he often did. She stood from her seat, her tray of food in hand to discard in the trash cans across the cafeteria. He watched in awe as her whimsical, golden pigtails bounced up and down as she walked. The way her pink dress swished back and forth with each movement of her long, pale legs. Her blue eyes and dark, black monobrow attentive to the task at hand. He also noticed a certain _other _blonde just getting his lunch, seemingly noticing all this too. His green eyes were half-lidded, and his tray of food still in his hands as he watched her with a secret smile.

Brainy knew that he had been giving her those looks since their adventure in San Lorenzo. He knew that he longed for her also. But he also knew that he'd been keeping his love for the girl a secret too... but that was one thing they wouldn't have in common for long.

He saw that Helga was now in the center of the cafeteria, walking back towards her table, and that was when he made his move.

He stood from his seat, and walked towards her. She noticed him, and stopped, giving him a questioning look. Brainy smiled at her with half-lidded eyes, and took her hand gently in his. He got down on one knee, and watched as Arnold seemed to come out of his love-crazed stupor. He looked confused now, and a bit angry... this only made Brainy smirk, but seeing Helga's questioning blue gaze converted his smirk back to a loving smile.

Her eyes were wide, and slightly annoyed. He withdrew his inhaler from the back pocket of his pants, and took a long drag, before placing it back in his pocket. He placed his hand over his heart, and gave her a longing, love-sick look.

Helga raised one side of her unibrow at his behavior, but made no move to take her hand back from his gentle hold. "Brainy, what are you doing?"

The room had gone silent the moment Brainy had gotten down on one knee, and were all watching with curious and attentive looks.

Arnold was as still as a statue, clutching his tray of food for dear life. He looked a little flustered, and this only made Brainy's smile widen.

Brainy cast his dull gray eyes back up to Helga's stunning blue, and took a deep breath. "Helga..."

She blinked a couple times at him. "What?" She asked in slight annoyance and frustration.

Brainy saw the attention they were getting, Arnold's unusually hard hold on his tray, Helga's annoyed blue look, and finally let out his secret. "I... love you." He choked out, just loud enough for her to hear.

She stiffened, and her jaw dropped. "W-What?" She stuttered out, not sure if she heard him right.

He realized how quiet he'd said it, and cursed himself mentally. He took another deep breath, and in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear, repeated himself. "I love you."

**CRASH!**

Arnold's vice grip on his tray had instantly become as loose as jelly once what Brainy had said reached his ears, and his tray had crashed into the floor.

A moment passed, and soon everyone began laughing. A cruel, torturous laugh that caused Helga to look around her in horror and alarm. Her look was frantic, and horrified, before her eyes suddenly rolled up into the back of her head, and she began falling back.

Arnold quickly went forward and caught her in his arms, falling to his knees as he did so. He stared down at her soft, unconscious face, and a soft look came to his eyes. He stared at her for a moment more, before looking up at Brainy then with questioning, desperate eyes.

Brainy stood then, and stared down at them. He smirked, completely ignoring the laughter coming from all around him.

This was only the beginning.

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**A/N: Eh, I wasn't gonna post this for a good long while, but I need the space desperately, and I'm running out of time. If that doesn't make sense now, then it will soon. **

**So anyway, I'll just start up this new story. I likes it. :D**

**Do you?**

**Tell me in your...**

**REVIEW!!!**

_**"You know they're meant for eachother."**_

_**-Craig B.**_


	2. This Bites

**A/N: Flflplophfrolop!**

**If you can read that, then I am sincerely jealous. Enjoy the second chapter to the crazy! I wove you all! :D :D :D**

**Disclaimer: *Sings opera*_ I DON'T OWN HEY ARNOLD! _*Stops* Huh... who knew I could sing opera?**

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**Brainy's Confession**

**Chapter 2**

Arnold held the ice pack to her head worriedly, feeling her forehead in the process. "Are you sure you're okay, Helga? You're not sick or anything? I can take you to the nurses office if you're not feeling okay."

She took the ice pack from him, and threw it down onto the table, giving him an incredulous look. "Criminy, Arnold, I fainted. It's not like I got shot down in the call of duty or anything." While inwardly she was overjoyed at his continued concern for her, she still couldn't help but be slightly annoyed with it all.

He blinked at her. "Sorry, Helga, I was just a little concerned."

She gave him a listless expression. "Well, go take your saintlihood elsewhere, Football Head." She glanced behind her at the pale, wheezing boy sitting on the other side of her, and frowned. "I kinda need to take care of something."

He glanced behind her, and saw Brainy sitting there with a funny looking smile on his face. He frowned a little, but shook his head, and got up nonetheless. "Okay, Helga. See ya." He turned then, walking back over to his table where Gerald was still seated. He looked perfectly normal, but if someone looked close enough, they'd notice him pulling at the hem of his sweater consistently.

Helga watched him walk off for another moment, before turning around to face the wheezing boy beside her. She resisted the urge to scowl and punch him square in the nose out of habit, and just gave him a patient look. "Okay, Brainy, I'm going to try and be calm about this situation." She began, with her fingers interlaced with eachother. "So you kinda like me, and that's why you've been stalking me for the past forever, and then out of nowhere, you decided to announce it to the whole student body." He eyes flew wide open, and she grabbed him by the collar with a wild expression. "WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"Uh..." He wheezed, looking slightly frightened by the much taller girl holding him by the collar. "I don't-"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence, Wheeze Breath! I want a straight answer out of you, pronto!" She let go of his collar, and began tapping her fingers against the table, giving him a very impatient and irritated expression as most of the lunch room secretly watched with interest through continued conversation.

He wheezed deeply, and then grabbed out his inhaler, taking several swigs of it to try and calm his nerves. He sat the inhaler down on the table then and looked at her as seriously as he could. "Back on our trip to San Lorenzo, you nearly died quite a few times, and I just realized that life is short. I just really want to try and have a relationship with you."

Her eyes widened at that, and her tapping ceased.

He continued though, "I know it may not work out, but as I said, life is short, and you never know when you're going to die. I want to try this before I die or, God forbid, you do. If you'll just give me a chance, I'd be truly thankful to you." He took her hand into his, and smiled at her sweetly. "I do love you, Helga."

She didn't move a muscle, just sat there, trying to process what was happening here. She remembered the FTi incident, and recalled how horrified Arnold looked when she kissed him. She recalled how he'd avoided her for a long while afterward. She remembered how he'd used her feelings against her and thrown her into that pool at the April Fools Dance. She remembered how oddly he'd stared at her all throughout their adventure in the jungle. And most of all, she remembered how it had been a pretty long time since the FTi scandal, and how Arnold hadn't made a peep to her about it since then. Clearly he wasn't interested, and this nerd here clearly liked her a lot... heck, with all that stalking, he was almost as obsessive as she was... maybe giving him a chance wouldn't be so bad. She would have loved it if Arnold had given her a chance... just one... She figured, what was wrong with letting this dork finally have his day for once?

She hesitated another moment, and Brainy became a bit worried by her continued silence, before she finally spoke, "Brainy..." She started slowly, "I'll level with ya. I don't really like you that way." He deflated a little, and she frowned. "But..." He looked at her again with some hope lighting up in his gray eyes. "I..." She gulped. "I don't really _know_ you... So I guess we could give this a shot." She shrugged, trying desperately to make it all seem like it wasn't a big deal.

A split-second passed, and before she knew what was happening, she was wrapped in Brainy's embrace, hugging her with as much strength as he could muster. He wheezed. "Thank you... Helga..."

She flinched slightly, and had the sudden urge to push him off of her and beat the living tar out of him. But then remembered that she was Arnold in this situation, and she would have died if he'd done that to her. So she hesitated another moment, before bringing her own arms around him slowly, trying not to feel repulsed. It was just Brainy, after all. If she could manage kissing his forehead without vomiting, then a little hug shouldn't be that big of a problem for her.

He wheezed out of bliss.

* * *

Arnold forced a smile. "Looks like they came to an agreement." He observed, watching as Brainy and Helga embraced from across the cafeteria.

Gerald rolled his eyes at the couple. "I feel for Brainy, man. That is one messed up dude. Fallin' in love with Helga Pataki." He shook his head. "Mmmm mmmm mmmm, now that's just sad."

Arnold laughed a little uneasily, his eyes shifting in a different direction than Gerald. "Heh, heh... yeah..."

Gerald raised an eyebrow at him. "Mmm-hm. Who in their right mind, would actually fall for her? It makes no sense." He looked away from Arnold, beginning to count on his fingers "I mean, she's selfish, cruel, arrogant, full of herself, insensitive, brash, rude,"

Arnold's eye twitched a little, and his grip tightened on his chocolate milk. But Gerald just continued, "stupid, insecure, ugly, mean, a bully, and nothing but a _big old jer_-"

"Will you shut up?!" Arnold snapped, standing up from his seat with a scowl fully set on his face, and his eyes flaming.

Gerald stood up abruptly, grinning. "Ah-ha!" He declared, "I knew it!" He snapped his fingers, and feeling a sense of pride rush over him. "You like Helga." He snickered, as Arnold stood dumb-founded now, with a dark blush on his cheeks. After a moment, he shook his head, and crossed his arms over his chest, "I do n-" Gerald swiftly slapped a hand over his mouth, and shook his head at him. "Don't even try to deny it, man. We've been best friends for years. I think I know when you're crushin' on someone. Don't think I didn't see all those weird looks you were casting her way back in the jungle." He raised an eyebrow.

Arnold's eyes widened, and he blushed again, before pushing Gerald's hand away from his mouth and sitting down in defeat. "Okay, fine. Maybe..." He hesitated, biting his lip as Gerald sat back down beside him. "Maybe I do... sorta-... I have some new found feelings for her, lets put it that way." Arnold finished finally, rubbing the back of his neck in discomfort.

Gerald smirked. "I knew it. The signs were all there." He grinned again.

Arnold narrowed his eyes at him then. "Yeah, whatever, Gerald. Just don't talk about her like that again."

Gerald blinked at him, and then sighed. "Sorry, Arnold. I was just trying to get you to snap. It was a test. I didn't really mean any of it. Helga's-..." He bit his tongue, not sure what to say.

Arnold rolled his eyes at him, and sat his head on his arms on the table, not really expecting him to finish the sentence.

Gerald looked thoughtful, before sighing. "Helga did some pretty cool stuff for you back in that jungle. And for that, I guess she's a pretty okay person." He patted his friend on the back, and then looked back over to where Helga was now trying to pry off Brainy. Gerald snickered at the sight. "And relax, you're so better than Brainy. This isn't nothing." He waved it off. "They'll be over before you can say Helga's full name."

"Helga Geraldine Pataki." Arnold said dryly, trying to ignore the new couple from across the cafeteria.

Gerald frowned. "Oh, come on, buddy. Don't be like that." He paused then. "Wait a minute, the G stands for Geraldine? How did you know that?"

"She told me back in San Lorenzo." He shrugged, still looking listless.

"Why would she tell you that?"

"She was hanging off a cliff, and she told me that if she died, not to let her parents put her middle name on her grave stone." Arnold was able to crack a small smile at that.

Gerald snickered. "I don't blame her."

* * *

"Okay, seriously, Brainy. You can get off now." Helga frowned, trying to push the wheezing boy off of her.

Finally, after a few more defiant wheezes, he let go, and smiled in apology at her. "Uh... Sorry..."

Helga just shrugged, waving it off. "Eh, don't worry about it. Believe it or not, I actually understand." She stood up then. "Would you excuse me for a few minutes, Brainy?" She asked politely.

He wheezed, nodding an affirmative 'yes'.

* * *

Helga crashed through the door of the bathroom, and turned on the hot water quick, beginning to practically drown herself in the scalding hot water. "Ugh, why me? No wonder Arnold hasn't returned my feelings." She shuddered. "If I'm half as repulsing as Brainy." She groaned, rubbing her arms up and down repeatedly in paranoia.

"Ugh, this bites."

* * *

**A/N: Here we are. I hope you enjoyed. As I said before, I'm trying to flush out my documents and speed things up a little. So here we are. :D**

**I hope you enjoyed! Third chapter will be up when I feel like it.**

**Review!**


	3. Flat Out Rejection?

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**A/N: Kookistan Hello!**

Ugh, my greetings are seriously SUCKING lately. I need some new material. Hmmmmm... but what? Fleh. And no one try giving me any ideas. I like to be original in my greetings. Perhaps I'll... OH! *Cackles maniacally* I know what my greeting can be next time... OH! Screw it. It's too awesome to pass up. Forget the whole "Kookistan-yada yada" crap there. Here is my new greeting... *Clears throat*

SPOON!

XD *Falls over laughing* Anyone recognize that? If not, then you need to! Best show EVER. XD Definitely. Definitely the best show ever. Definitely awesome.

XD Yet another thing from that show. LOVE! Seriously, if no one recognizes that, then it's from an old cartoon called, "The Tick". :D So hilarious!

Now read, overbites!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold! *Rolls eyes* Didn't see that one coming.**

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Brainy's Confession

Chapter 3

As time went on, Brainy and Helga became closer and closer. Though Helga refused to admit that he was starting to grow on her, she was very reluctant to the whole thing and _so_ not into the idea of having a romantic relationship with Brainy at ALL, but as time went on... she couldn't deny that Brainy was... very sweet, and they really did have a lot in common, which was a real shocker to her there. Sure, he wasn't really a talker, but when he did talk, whatever came from his mouth was always very intellectual and interesting, which was extremely surprising to Helga. She'd expected him to talk about... cheese or something. But no, he was always talking about really intellectual stuff, stuff that actually interested her to an extent, stuff like literature and music and art, and even poetry. He was _really_ into poetry. Who knew? She sure didn't. So now she really couldn't deny that she liked him... but liked-him liked-him...? That she wasn't so sure of. Kissing him and holding hands and all that with him felt a little weird to her still, even after about three weeks of 'dating'. She needed advice...

And as Helga and Brainy got closer, Arnold got more and more frazzled. He didn't want to be jealous. He wasn't exactly used to wanting to pumble someone into the ground. Sure he'd felt jealousy before, to a certain extent, but... this was just ridiculous. Some of the things he had been thinking of doing to Brainy. They were just wrong, and rude, and vile and... _mean_. Arnold was not a mean spirited person. He always looked on the bright side and saw the better in people. He knew that Brainy just really liked Helga, maybe even LOVED her (though for some reason the thought of someone else having similar affections for her made him really angry), but Brainy just wanted to move forward and pursue her. Brainy didn't know that he... um... liked her... a lot, too... right? Ugh, of course he didn't know. Arnold wasn't that obvious about it. He'd just taken glances. Nothing serious. And it wasn't like _he_ could see the inside of his notebook. No one ever saw his doodles... of... Helga, and hearts, and... stuff... He was very subtle, and secretive about it. Heck, he still wasn't completely sure WHY he felt so compelled to do all these little things. Every time he caught himself staring he'd slap his hand hand and mentally scold himself.

Arnold's intentions towards Helga since he'd started growing these strange, new feelings for her since their trip to San Lorenzo were... Well, he wasn't sure what he was going to do with her. He knew that she loved him, so there was no real risk in admitting that he liked her for more than just a friend... or bully... or bully-friend... or friend who liked to bully him... or _sometimes_ friendly bully who-UGH! Why was this all so confusing?

But the point _was_, he was reluctant in admitting it to her... or anyone, for that matter. Gerald knew _NOW_, but if he hadn't figured it out on his own, he probably never would have known. And Arnold was still weird on even thinking about it. Usually, Arnold was honest with himself on his more romantic feelings for girls... but now things were a bit different. He wasn't sure if he was ready for any of this whole "love" stuff, or whatever those strange feelings he was having towards her lately were. It was all so confusing to think about. Love? How ridiculous. He was TEN, for Pete's sakes! TEN! No ten-year-old could possibly fall in _love_... right? Right. Then why did he feel so weird now? He'd admit that he did have SOME kind of feelings for her now, but the idea of them being love seemed preposterous. But they did feel... _different_... than just a crush...

First of all, whenever he was around her or thinking about her, he felt confused and conflicted and... just _so weird_.

Second, his heart would beat really fast and flutter and basically do a bunch of backflips and somersaults whenever he so much as looked at her. Granted, with all his old crushes, he'd admit to his heart fluttering ever so gently, and it was so soft and sweet it made him really want to be near them. But now it was much more intense to the point that he was sure his heart was literally going to beat right out of his chest. Which was a really scary concept to even THINK about.

Third, whenever he saw her hurt... physically or emotionally... he felt this overwhelming urge to make her feel better. He couldn't believe how concerned he'd felt when she'd fainted. How worried he'd been that she was hurt. He wasn't used to that. Sure, with his other crushes, he didn't exactly want them to get hurt. But he'd never really cared that much before. He was of course, the 'nice' guy, and was supposedly concerned about EVERYONE. It was his 'job', as most would say, to care. But that wasn't necessarily true. He did, of course, care about just about everyone. Nobody deserved to be in any kind of pain, and everyone had good in them, but he'd never cared THAT much before. But she'd just fainted... it wasn't like she hit her head or anything... She'd be fine... right? ...Right? ...RIGHT?

...Anyway, other than all that, there was so much more. The sweaty palms, the warmth always gathering and building in his stomach, along with all those stinkin' butterflies that just WOULDN'T leave him ALONE, the fact that she was practically all he could think about anymore, the strange jolts that would go throughout him when their hands would so much as brush, the fact that he had just started daydreaming of what it might be like to hold her, or stroke her soft, blonde hair... or gaze into those two sparkling blue pools of hers... or maybe even... if she'd let him... ki-...

He slapped a hand to his head.

...Ugh, and THAT kept happening to him too. He definitely couldn't deny that he liked her... a lot. But what was with all these new, foreign, CRAZY feelings and urges now? It was all too much to handle, and when asked to describe how she made him feel now, the thoughts of all these new feelings would probably make him pass out. It was too overwhelming, and sometimes, he couldn't help but think that maybe he'd caught some kind of jungle sickness from back in San Lorenzo.

And when telling this theory to Gerald, he'd replied, "Yeah, the _love_ sickness."

This was why he hadn't wanted to tell Gerald.

He still wasn't sure what to think of all these new feelings, but he knew that he had feelings for Helga. Feelings that he felt would pretty much be his undoing. Back in San Lorenzo, at the beginning of their adventure, he'd admitted to himself that she was growing on him. Then later on in their adventure, he admitted that she was a great friend. Soon after that, he'd started getting the butterflies, the nervousness, the usual issue of heart fluttering, and he'd admitted that he had gained a crush on her. He was surprised by that, but there was no denying the butterflies swarming around in his stomach when he was around her. He'd started doing the usual things then. Staring at her, walking a lot closer to her, having thoughts of how pretty she was with her golden hair, bright blue eyes, smooth, fair complexion, and how nice she looked under the moonlight, and then of course he'd start wanting to just hold her hand a little. Nothing wrong about that. It was the normal crush feelings for him. Then he'd gotten more interested in her, and wanted to be near her more often and talk to her. So they talked at night, after Gerald had fallen asleep. That was when he'd started learning more and more about her. Then he'd started noticing strange little things he usually didn't notice all that much. Like how she'd rub her arm when she was nervous, how her eyes twinkled when she was happy, how her laugh was so warm and fun, yet still so sarcastic sometimes. That had been a bit new to him, noticing so many odd little things... and liking them... Oh well, it wasn't a big deal, right?

Well, anyway, then he'd learned about the whole poetry thing, and he'd actually gotten to hear some of it from her, which had him completely mesmerized at the time. Then he had the pleasure of witnessing her staring up at the stars with a dreamy expression, which had his mind and heart racing. And sometime during the trip, she'd admitted to being Cecile, and he'd been shocked. She was the one he'd felt that strange connection with, during that one crazy night, with the sparkly eyes and pretty hair. He could have slapped himself for not seeing it before. Either she was brilliant and sneaky, or he was just the densest person on the face of the planet. He'd decided she was just brilliant and sneaky, and settled on that. He'd been impressed with her after that. She'd even taken her hair down to show him. He'd felt particularly weird then. He'd even touched her hair after she'd done it. Sometime after these few encounters he'd started feeling warm around her, and also really protective. The rest just seemed to follow after. And after a while, he'd realized just how intense his feelings had become, and he'd started getting really afraid of her and what she was doing to him. And that was when he'd started keeping his distance from her.

He'd wanted to tell her just how... _weird_ he felt around her afterward, but he was too confused by it all. So then they'd come home, and he'd continued keeping his distance.

And since then, his feelings had only been getting stronger. And the stronger they got, the more weak and confused he felt.

And now, she was with BRAINY, and even more new feelings were invading him thanks to _her_. New feelings of resentment, anger, annoyance, and even... jealousy.

Now THAT was new. He didn't like these new feelings. Every time he saw them together now, it made him feel ill. But no matter how horrible it made him feel to see them together, he couldn't take his eyes off of them. He felt like he had to keep a very close eye on the two of them. Brainy couldn't hug her, he couldn't smile at her, he couldn't hold her hand, and kissing was definitely OUT. Ohhh, if he even TRIED to kiss her, he'd... he'd... what would he do?

Arnold honestly didn't know. All he knew, was that he wasn't allowed to touch her at all. No touching, no flirting, no talking, no being around eachother... but if they didn't do that, then they wouldn't exactly be a couple would they?

Well, that was the point, he guessed.

Currently, he was just sitting at lunch, thinking these things over, when the strangest thing happened. Helga came over and sat down beside him. He blinked in surprise at her.

She gave him an awkward look, her hands folded on the table. "Hey, Football Head." She greeted with a nervous smile.

He blinked at her again, unsure how to respond exactly as his brain had suddenly gone blank.

She sighed, and then gave him a stern look. "Okay, let's cut the crap. I need advice, and you are the advice guy. I know I don't normally come to you when I need help, but I'm in a bit of a pickle, and I have absolutely NO clue what to do. So I'm desperate."

He managed a nod, and laid his sandwich down to give her his full attention.

She bit her lip, and glanced away, trying to figure out how to begin. "O-Okay... um... let's say, hypothetically, that I kinda liked this guy..."

His heart jumped into his throat.

She continued, "but I'm not so sure if I like-him like-him. I mean... I know that I like him as a friend, but I'm not sure if I like him _romantically_, ya know? And then there's this, uh... other guy, who I know for sure that I like-like, but I know that he doesn't like-like me. But the one guy I'm not sure if I like as more than a friend, DOES like-me like-me. And-UGH!" She exploded at the end, slapping a hand to her forehead. "This is ridiculous." She shook her head. "Look, I like this one guy, but he doesn't like me. The other guy does like me, but I don't know if I like him. I mean, we have a lot in common, and I like talking to him, but... I don't know. I'm just confused, okay? Do you have any advice or... or anything?" She gave him an anxious look.

Arnold sat there, eyes wide. He knew perfectly well who she was talking about. Helga loved him, but she didn't think he loved her back. But Brainy did like (Maybe l-love) her, but she wasn't sure if she liked (Or l-l... lo-... l-ov-d) him... Or maybe she found out Arnold liked her...? He nearly gasped at the idea. That turned the WHOLE thing around! She like-liked Brainy, but he didn't-Wait... no, that didn't work. Brainy like-liked her for sure, right? Or... or maybe she set the entire thing up with him... maybe it was to see if he would be jealous... What if the whole thing proved that he was jealous, since he was staring at them so anxiously lately, and she found out? So now she knew he like-liked her, but she didn't like-like him anymore, and she started like-liking Brainy, but Brainy didn't like-like her for real? Like, she just paid him to make a big show of professing his love for the test, and she ended up finding out Arnold like-liked her, but then she fell out of like-like with him, and now like-liked Brainy...? But she wasn't SURE if she like-liked Arnold anymore...? The theory was unlikely, but Helga was pretty devious right? So it was possible... really possible... a little _too_ possible...

"I think you should give the guy you're not sure you like a shot." The words flew from his lips before he could stop them, and re-think things through. He knew somewhere in the back of his very occupied and anxious mind that his entire theory was insane, but he was getting more and more paranoid by the second here. He just wanted her to dump Brainy, and after that... he wasn't sure... He just wanted her single again, so he could figure out his feelings, and maybe they could try something. Brainy no. Arnold yes... He'd never felt so selfish in his life...

Helga blinked in shock at him. She was sure that he'd know WHO she was talking about. It was all pretty obvious, of course. Doi. So if he knew... he just rejected her, didn't he? She nearly burst into tears. But then again, he'd rejected her a long time ago, hadn't he? Her first clue probably should have been when he nearly jumped off the roof of the FTi building to get away from her when she was trying to kiss him again... and again... But still, he hadn't just flat out rejected her... till now. She blinked back tears, and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before finally responding, as levelly as she could, "Oh... Why do you say that?"

He answered immediately, and anxiously, "Well, if he likes you, and this other guy doesn't, then what's the point in wasting your time on him? Then again... Does he _know_ that you like him...?" He stared at her, waiting for an answer.

She raised one side of her eyebrow at him, her sorrow changing to bewilderment. "Uh... _yeah_...?"

He raised an eyebrow at her strange tone, but mentally shrugged it off and replied, "And how did he respond, exactly? Did he flat out say he didn't like you back?"

Her bottom lip quivered then. Why was he doing this to her? He wasn't cruel like this! He was kind, and nice, and gentle! But this... this was just... She tried to blink back the tears again, but in blinking, one escaped it's hold and slid down her cheek. She tried to wipe it away before he noticed, but it was too late.

"Helga?" He asked softly, laced with concern. She really liked him, didn't she? His heart almost shattered, but he stayed strong for her, and simply laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong? What did he say to you?"

She looked at him, seeing his concern, and frowned heavily. "_You really don't know, do you_..._?_" She whispered, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

He blinked at her, frowning, squeezing her shoulder. "_What don't I know...?_"

She huffed then, anger and irritation filling inside her as she suddenly flew up from her seat, and raced out of the lunch room.

"Helga?" He asked as she abruptly stood. "Helga!" He yelled then, standing up from his seat and watching as she ran out. He wasn't sure what to think at that moment, so he just did what his instincts were telling him to do.

He ran out of the lunch room after her.


	4. Regrets Are Made

**A/N: **Uh... Read. Yeah.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything... Really, I don't.

**_~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ _**

**Brainy's Confession **

**Chapter 4**

Arnold saw Helga flee away into a janitor closet, and dug his heels into the ground to stop running. He stopped right in front of the door, and tried pulling on the handle, only to realize she'd locked him out. "Helga?" He yelled out in concern, his ear pressed up against the door.

He heard her growl, and he had to flinch slightly at how irritated with him she sounded. What did he do?

"You really don't get it!" Helga yelled, and he had to move his ear away from the door at how loudly she'd done so. "How can you not get it? You've got to be THE MOST DENSE and IDIOTIC moron in the whole school!" She thundered, and Arnold winced at her hurtful words. "H-Helga, what are you talking a-"

"How can you not KNOW? I practically SCREAMED it in your ear! I even KISSED you, for Criminy's sake! I've never been that out of it in my LIFE! And you STILL don't get it?"

Arnold furrowed his eyes down in confusion, backing away from the door. What didn't he-... He froze, his eyes jetting open in realization. 'Kissed him'? Was she talking about FT-

The sound of her punching the door hit him, and he jumped at the very sudden and unexpected sound. It rattled his nerves even more. "Helga!" He yelled through the door, feeling worried now over how angry she was getting. "Are you talking about FTi? Because if you are-"

"Gah!" She screamed, throwing the door open suddenly and stomping out, a very serious scowl set on her face, though Arnold could see that her eyes were brimming with tears. "So you DID know, huh?" Her breathing heavy from her fury, she sniffled slightly, and slumped. "I was afraid of that." She whimpered quietly, her scowl now gone from her face, only replaced by an expression that she guessed screamed of desperation and self pity. These thoughts only made her slump more.

Arnold's eyes widened at seeing all this, and he frowned softly, reaching out to try and comfort her. She took a step back from him, though, really not wanting him to see her like this.

He took another step towards her, though this time he didn't reach out to her, just stood there, giving her a both confused and sad look. "Helga, I'm not sure what's going on here, but, uh... I'm guessing I may have misinterpreted your question back there."

She gave him a confused look, and he couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief... Relief, humiliation, shame, and also a huge part of him feeling like a complete idiot. She raised one side of her eyebrow at him, now wiping the tears from her eyes best she could. "What are you talking about?"

He bit his lip, looking away. He really didn't want to tell her what he'd meant back there. But he guessed he had to eventually, if he wanted that sad look of her face, which he really did... "Well, I just... When you asked me that... You know, for advice on your little problem... I guess I just let my imagination get the best of me, because I switched things around a lot. Like, instead of you loving me, I thought you'd gotten over me, and now liked Brainy, but you'd paid Brainy in the beginning to confess that he loved you when really he didn't and it was all just a huge plot to find out if I liked you or not, and then when you stopped liking me and noticed that I was..." He gulped, but quickly continued on while he still had the nerve. "...j-jealous, so then you knew that I liked you but you didn't like me and you actually liked Brainy now but Brainy didn't like you and-"

"Woa, woa, woa!" Helga interrupted, staring at him with wide eyes. "Hold the phone... Did you just admit to being... _jealous_... of _Brainy_?" She stared at him, her mouth slightly slack and her eyes wide in both utter shock and awe.

Arnold flushed, his eyes focusing on the floor and twisting his hands over and over repeatedly. "I-I... yes." He admitted simply, avoiding any and all eye contact with her.

Helga blinked, still staring at him. "And... that you actually... _like me_?"

Arnold flushed even deeper, now fiddling with the collar of his shirt as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Uh... yes."

Helga simply stood there, dumb-founded and blinking in utter bewilderment and shock.

After a few moments of silence, Arnold took a deep breath, summing up his courage, and looked up at her. Seeing her completely baffled look, he decided he had some serious explaining to do. "Uh... Y-You see, Helga, I, uh, started really getting to know you in San Lorenzo, and pretty soon I started getting... um..." He bit the inside of his cheek, his pulse increasing. "...f-f-feelings for you... S-So I know that I like you... a lot... as more than a friend..." _'To put it mildly..._' He added mentally, twitching in anxiousness inside and out.

Helga tilted her head at him, her eyes still wide, though she'd finally managed to close her mouth. "What kind of feelings?" She asked levelly.

"Huh?" He questioned in a pitch higher than normal, still feeling a bit jittery.

"What kind of feelings, Arnold?" She repeated herself quietly, giving him a very patient look.

Arnold could have sworn he felt his pupils dilate at the question, and he took a small step back, licking his lips. "I-I don't know." He answered quietly, honestly, looking down at his feet.

Helga felt a small bit of her patience drift away at the vague and not very helpful answer, and she took a step towards him, keeping her tone normal, though still a bit quiet, "Arnold... seriously... How do you feel about me?"

Arnold kept his gaze on the floor, and he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach for whatever reason. "I told you, Helga... I don't know."

Her voice sounded closer this time, though since he wasn't looking directly at her and he was too busy trying to tame the swarm of nervous butterflies in his stomach, he didn't fully register it, "How can you not know?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I just don't..."

"But it doesn't make sense." Her voice sounded a bit more forced this time.

"It doesn't make sense to me, either, Helga." He confessed, eyes still focused on the ground.

Her hands came down to his shoulders, and he snapped his head up at the sudden and very unexpected feeling of her hands on him. He stared wide-eyed at her, seeing that she looked both confused and aggravated by this point. "Football Head, just answer me; No confusing, long-winded answers, no short, vague two worded answers. Don't even think about it. Just answer me simply... Do you love me back?"

Arnold's eyes widened considerably at the simple question, and his heart sped up at the first thing that popped into his head. But before his answer could come out, a cloud of doubt overtook him, and he had to shake his head quick, taking a step back and away from her, his head in his hands.

Helga huffed, her frustration finally evolving to anger, and there was even a small note of hurt that managed to creep it's way into her tone, "Fine. Then that's that." She wiped her hands off on her jumper for no real reason, struggling to keep the tears at bay, though she managed well enough, despite the watery tone in her voice when she said, "Well, if you can ever make up your mind, I'll be with Brainy." She turned on her heel then, making her way back in the direction of the cafeteria.

Arnold's head snapped up at that last part, and he felt his stomach lurch. He leapt forward on impulse and grabbed her wrist, halting her in her tracks. "No!"

Helga did stop, but she didn't turn around, just shifted her head slightly and asked him simply with a slight edge, feeling tired of his games, "What?"

Arnold bit his lip, not quite sure what he wanted to say. He just didn't want her to go back to Brainy. After a moment, he sighed, letting go of her wrist. "Uh..." He began unsurely, forcing his hand back to his side. He opened his mouth again to say something, but it was left to just hang open for a few moments before he just let out a sigh and forced a small smile. "See ya later."

Helga sighed lightly, nodding her head slightly, still not facing him. "Right. Bye." And then she was gone.

Arnold just stood in the hall, his head swarming with ideas and doubts and regrets.

**_~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~ SuprDivider ~_**

**A/N: **Hmmm... Depressing AND short? Well, I'm on a roll now, aren't I?

Well, I got it posted. There wasn't much left to write before I could post, so I just finished it and got that up. Now I must go do this for some of my other stories. I really want to finish some of this crap, ya know?

Anyway...

**_REVIEW!_**


	5. There's Always Time for Torture

**A/N: **Happy go lucky mushrooms from Heaven! :D

**Disclaimer: **You really think that a fifteen year old girl living in the middle of 'da hood' owns an old television show that started airing before she was even _born_? *Laughs hysterically* Oh, that's a good one. *Wipes tear from eye*

* * *

**Brainy's Confession**

**Chapter 5**

After Arnold had silently left the hallway, he'd come back to the cafeteria just in time for the bell to ring. Class time went by achingly slowly, and the lack of sloppy, wet spitballs hitting the back of his neck was really starting to disturb him. He'd been so used to it by now that it was almost comforting. The sudden change in their regular daily cycle only seemed to increase his anxiety further. It felt like she was just... giving up on him or something. He'd dropped his pencil on purpose at one point just so he could sneak a look at Helga's expression. To his surprise, she was writing in one of those pink books he'd caught her writing in at San Lorenzo. She'd confessed that she wrote poetry, and he'd been able to put two and two together fairly quickly to realize that the poetry she was writing was about HIM, and at one point she'd even let him read some. It was really beautiful, deep stuff. But the fact that she was writing in the same book surprised him. Perhaps his emotional breakdown had inspired her?

Arnold had sighed and for the better part of the class, he wondered what she could possibly be writing. Maybe she'd abandoned "Arnold" poetry all together and was writing about Brainy. He'd had to bite his tongue to keep from gagging out right there.

For the rest of the period, Arnold fought back the usual romantic daydreams and doodles and focused on his work, and the rest of class passed by effortlessly.

Once recess came, though, he was very displeased to see Helga grab Brainy by the arm and skip her way right past his desk with him. Arnold managed to keep the disgusted look off of his face, though, luckily. But his curiosity was peaked when a little white piece of paper was tossed onto his desk by Helga herself. He blinked after her, seeing her and Brainy walk out of the room, before he looked back down to the little white piece of paper and opened it quickly, seeing as how everyone was shoving their ways out of the classroom to recess anyway - No one would notice.

Once the note was unfolded, Arnold read it with interest...

_My beloved Football Head,_

_You stink._

_Yours truly,_

_Helga G. Pataki*_

Arnold stared at the note in shock, various strange expressions playing their ways across his face. _'Even after all this drama she still manages to find time to torment me. Unbelievable.' _He shook his head in amazement, folding the note back up and just sticking it in his pocket for the time being.

* * *

Once Arnold was outside, he caught sight of a certain tall haired boy from across the playground easily. The darker boy was waving him over, so Arnold ran over to him.

Just as Arnold was close enough to hear him, Gerald yelled, "Man, where did you disappear to after lunch? I was looking all over for you!"

Arnold finally caught up to where he was, and he sat down on the concrete, panting from his run. Gerald followed suit, still giving Arnold questioning eyes as he pushed further, "_Well_?"

Once regaining his breath, Arnold informed him in a rush, "Helga asked me for some romantic advice, I stupidly switched some stuff around in my answer in a way that made it seem like I didn't like her, Helga got upset and ran out of the cafeteria, Helga asked me how I felt about her, I told her I didn't know, we got into a fight over it, and then Helga left in tears. Also, I don't think I ever told you - Helga has been madly in love with me since Pre-K and she confessed it to me on top of the FTi building, she was Deep Voice, we couldn't have done it without her, and now Helga thinks I'm just some fickle guy who's playing with her feelings and she's upset with me and gave me this note." He withdrew the note from his pocket and handed it over to a now shocked and frozen Gerald. Arnold managed to wedge the piece of paper into his shaky, cold fingers.

Utterly relieved to get all of that off of his chest, Arnold let out a slightly more relaxed breath and patiently waited for Gerald's brain to catch up with all the information he'd just shared with him.

After nearly ten minutes it seemed, Gerald finally managed to blink his way out of his shocked stupor and look at Arnold with a semi-serious expression. "I want details later man. And I mean the types of details like I want to know EXACTLY what words came out of Helga's mouth, how you responded, and just how much of a sugar high you were on when you claim this happened."

Arnold rolled his eyes slightly, before simply nodding and pointing to the note still wedged in his hand.

Gerald blinked, unfolding the paper all together and reading it aloud, "'My beloved Football Head," Already Gerald had to hold back a bout of chuckles. "You stink. Yours truly, Helga G. Pataki.' Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm. She sure does get to the point, doesn't she?" Gerald laughed.

Arnold sighed, sloaching slightly in his spot. "Yeah, and now I don't know what to do, Gerald."

"Well, if she's mad at you for not being straight-forward with her and telling her how you feel, do just that. That's what my dad says you should always do when faced with an angry woman. Do whatever she says in order to make her happy." Gerald smiled lazily at his friend.

"But I don't know how I feel!" Arnold yelled, attracting more attention than he would have liked, though he didn't actually notice the attention he was drawing until Gerald cleared his throat and nodded his head in the direction of all the people now seemingly interested in whatever they were talking about. Arnold lowered his voice, "I don't know how I feel."

"Well, what do you feel?" Gerald asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend. "You confessed to me earlier that you 'had feelings for her,' but that's not specific enough, man. Tell me straight, what do you feel?" He leaned in slightly with an accusatory eye.

Arnold leaned back, away from him and looked away, not liking where this conversation was going. He gulped, still not looking him in the eye. "Uh... W-Well, it's kind of like..." He paused, his eyes traveling. "Um..." He paused again, taking a moment to focus on exactly what it WAS that he felt. He wasn't sure if he could put it to words. The feelings he felt were just so... _odd. _Like nothing he'd ever felt before. "Hmmm..." He continued, more contemplative now, lost in his thoughts, "Well, in a way, it feels just like one of my old crushes, but it's... more intense, and there are a lot of added feelings jumbled in there that I'm not sure how to describe." He sighed, not really wanting to elaborate any further, and so he didn't.

After a few moments of waiting, Gerald realized that his friend had no sort of intention of going on. And so, he said, just to make sure, "Well, are you going to go on?"

"Well, I said that I wasn't sure how to describe them." He said with a shrug, looking very nonchalant, but Gerald could see right through his charade.

Gerald groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead for a moment, before he let his hand drop and asked with mild frustration, "Man, what are you afraid of? I mean, I know it's Helga G. Pataki, but you've never had any problems with admitting to your feelings before. Heck, I couldn't get you to shut up about them. But lately it seems like you're trying to hide your feelings or something. I mean, it's been a good while since we've been back from San Lorenzo, and an even LONGER while since we saved the neighborhood, and this is the first I've heard of ANY of this. Well, not your feelings, though, of course. I had to figure THOSE out on my own. Not that it was all that hard." He rolled his eyes at the memory of his friend's rather sappy and lovesick behavior.

Arnold's eye flashed indignantly at the last part, but before he could think to say anything, another very interesting thing Gerald said popped into his head. _'What am I afraid of?_' He thought, scrunching his eyebrows down in raw bewilderment. Now that he thought about it, he had to admit, he had been acting really afraid. But of _what_? What would really be so terrifying of actually being in lo-His thoughts halted right there. He just couldn't think of it. If he thought it, then it might make it come true... Oh, there he went AGAIN! What was there to be afraid of? What would be so bad about thinking that? He sighed, the answer clear to him as he informed, "Gerald, this isn't like with all those other girls. I can handle having a crush on someone, but Helga doesn't just have a crush on me. She told me she _loved_ me. Not just a crush or some kind of puppy love. She really, truly loves me. And has for the past seven years. And she expects me to either tell her I love her or that I don't. But I'm not ready for that kind of commitment. But it's being shoved into my face whether I like it or not. And I don't know if I can handle it." He gripped the side of his head, a frown spreading deep across his face as he thought of all the feelings that had all just been pushed randomly into his lap.

Gerald just sat there silently after he was done talking, looking at Arnold intensely... before he said humorously, "Wow, man. That's deep." He pounded a fist against his heart a moment, a mockingly-sappy look plastered across his face.

Arnold just resisted the urge to glare at him for his mockery of something he happened to take very seriously, instead opting to simply lightly roll his eyes.

After a chuckle or two from the response he was given, Gerald just looked at Arnold with a smile. "But seriously, man, what can ya do? You can't exactly just have Helga take everything back and rewind San Lorenzo and just go back to the way things were. You can only play with the cards that you've been dealt. There's no going back. And I hear you, Arnold, I really do. I know how it feels to just have a bunch of stuff you weren't prepared for thrown in your face." He cringed a moment, remembering that one evening with his brother when he'd very unexpectedly had a bowl of sloppy, sticky, COLD ice cream thrown in his face, courtesy of a hysterically laughing Jamie-O. He shook his head to clear it, and continued, "But you can't exactly control any of it, man. It's fate. It just happens, randomly, with no warning whatsoever." He shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I guess life has dealt me with a pretty difficult hand then, Gerald, 'cause I have no idea what to do at this point." Arnold stated glumly.

Gerald scratched his head a moment, thinking. "Well... seems like the first thing to do would be to figure out if you love her or not. So..." He leaned in. "Do ya?"

Arnold, with a frustrated grunt, just gave Gerald a testy look and said, "You know perfectly well that I have no idea how I feel."

Gerald gave him an amused smile. "Oh, come on, man. My dad told Jamie-O and me once that when you're in love, you'll just know, like THAT." He snapped his fingers, momentarily startling Arnold. "I can't very well help you with this, though, 'cause I've never been in love, _really_. So I don't know. But as far as I've seen, man, you've been acting like a total nut case. And if that's not love, then I don't know what is." He laughed.

Arnold pursed his lips a moment, hating to admit that he was right. He had been acting like a nut lately. He was all fidgety in class, he was always jumpy whenever Helga came around or came up in conversation, and he was almost sure that half his brain had been on vacation ever since they got back from San Lorenzo. He'd been coming up with and doing some of the most idiotic things lately. But he just couldn't help it. Didn't someone once say that love made people do crazy things? Arnold contemplated this thought a moment, before dismissing it from his mind. He was getting entirely too close to the truth for comfort at the moment.

Helga walked by suddenly, arm in arm with Brainy, and giggling very loudly as she passed, almost as if she wanted _certain people_ to hear. "Oh, Brainy, you slay me!" She intentionally tripped over Arnold's leg then, almost falling over, but Brainy managed to catch her at the last second. Helga stood up straighter then, her eyes darting down to Arnold and Gerald still sitting on the concrete. "Oh, hey there, losers. I didn't see you down there." She smiled almost wickedly. "Too lazy to get up and do anything, I presume?" She said very formally in a cruel tone, just like usual.

Arnold just stared up at them, his eyes intently focused on the arm they were currently linked at. Gerald, seeing his best friend seeming distracted, answered with a frown, "No, Helga. We were just talking. Can we help you?" Though he knew his best friend had certain feelings for her, he couldn't help but continue to be annoyed with just how rude she was to them.

Helga put a finger to her lip and looked up to the corner of her eye, mocking like she was contemplating her answer. "Hmmm..." After a moment, she looked back down at them with a light smirk. "Nope." She looked over at Brainy then with her best infatuated, star-struck look, and asked in a sweet voice, "How about you, Brainy-kinz?"

"_Brainy-kinz_?" Arnold couldn't help but whisper under his breath skeptically, twisting his face in repulsion.

Brainy wheezed a moment heavily, not used to her acting so affectionate with him. He adjusted his glasses with his free hand and told her, "Uh... no."

Helga took a second longer than Arnold would have liked to rip her eyes away from him and back to the two of them, and when she did finally look at them, it was with a disinterested look. "Well, bye then." She trotted off then with her chin held high, Brainy having slight trouble keeping up. "Come on, Brainy-poo, let's go get a drink of water."

Gerald watched them walk off with mild confusion and a raised eyebrow. "Geez, what was that about? I mean, Brainy-poo? What the heck was that?"

"She's just angry with me and is trying to make me jealous, but it _won't_ work." Arnold forced out through clenched teeth, practically fuming.

Gerald blinked, surprised by the strangely ticked off tone in Arnold's voice, and looked over at his steaming friend with an amused eye. "Yeah, I can see that." He said with a humorous lilt.

Arnold offered no response, instead opting to continue his death glare at Brainy's back side.

Gerald smirked in pure amusement, thinking to himself, _'I wonder how long he'll last before he blows a fuse_.'

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, we're actually almost through with this story. Can you believe that? Only about two more chapters and we're done. How amazin' is that? XD This'll be like the first real chapter story I've finished. Wow. Well, next chapter is going to focus more on Helga and Phoebe having a little talk, I think. And maybe some more stuff with Arnold. I don't know. We'll see. I need to make up my mind with how I want to go about writing the next chapter. But until then, you guys will just have to wait in agony for a little while longer.

Also, it's come to my attention that people are getting all sensitive and ticked off over authors not replying to reviews. *Raises eyebrow* I know I've never replied to that many reviews before, so I'm concerned. Does it really bug you guys that I don't respond? I mean, you know how much I appreciate you guys reviewing my stuff, right? I wouldn't still be writing on here if it wasn't for you guys' encouragement. But people are saying that it's 'rude' that people aren't replying to reviews and stuff. I just never bothered with it because before I was an author on here, I'd read and reviewed plenty of stuff, but no one ever replied to me. And it was never a problem because I was just happy to be able to give someone a review, kind of like a 'thank you' for writing what they wrote so the public, like me, could enjoy. I didn't need a 'thank you' in return or anything. So I've just never seen it as that big of a deal. Plus, I'm horrible with keeping up with that kind of stuff. But if it really does bother some of you guys, I can try and start replying to reviews, if you really want. Like I said, I don't see it as that big of a deal. So if you want... just tell me. I hate it when people hide their feelings and are all vague about things. All you had to do was say you wanted me to reply. *Shrugs*

So, if you enjoyed this chapter half as much as I enjoyed writing it for you, please let me know in your...

_**REVIEW!**_

And if you want, I'll send you a very gracious reply back. :D


	6. A Rather Perplexing Situation

**A/N: **Well, the next to the last chapter is now up. *Grins like a mad woman* I can't believe it. I'm just THIS close to finally finishing one of my stupid chapter stories. It's a freakin' dream come true! :D *Hallelujah chorus comes in and starts singing*

Also, you'll all be happy to know that I got some great advice from a friend on the whole 'replying to reviews' thing, and I've got everything figured out now. ^^ ...Well, anyway, let's get on with the show! :D ...Oh, what? You thought I was going to just tell you what my new system is? No, sorry. But rest assured, plenty of you will be hearing from me MUCH more often. ^_^ :D

And also, a thanks to my wonderful reviewer **The J.A.M. a.k.a. Numbuh i** for some inspiration for this chapter... He/She made some pretty... well, _poignant_ points... XD ;)

Enjoy the chapter, everybody! :D :D :D

**Disclaimer: **Okay, at this point, I'm not even going to bother with this anymore. You all know that I don't own this show. NO ONE who bothers with writing fiction for this show actually OWNS it! NO ONE! When has ANYONE on here said ANYTHING even remotely close to "Yes, I own it"? HUH?

* * *

**Brainy's Confession**

**Chapter 6**

Since that first encounter with Arnold at recess after their fight in the halls at lunch, Helga had been doing everything in her power to shove the fact that she was in a relationship with Brainy in Arnold's face. She made sure to walk past him in the halls with her hand firmly held onto by Brainy's, she made sure to laugh as loudly as possible at anything that came out of Brainy's mouth (Whether it was funny or not), made sure to always have a big goofy look on her face (Unless she ended up meeting eyes with Arnold, of course. Then she'd just look bored and uninterested), and she made sure to not give even a lick of attention to Arnold.

The truth of the matter was that she was hurt. She was hurt by everything that was going on. And she was confused. She knew without a doubt that she loved Arnold, but Arnold just didn't seem to want to deal with her feelings (Or his own). She didn't understand why, and didn't have much time to dwell on it since Brainy was always by her side, smiling all dreamily at her. That was another thing. She really liked Brainy, but the problem with that was... He was in love with her, but she... she wasn't sure HOW to feel about him. She knew she liked him, but it was more in a warm, friendly way than anything. And trying to talk to Arnold about that had only increased her problems further by adding in an entirely new factor to the problem.

Arnold had feelings for her. Whether they were a crush, love, or just him being confused, she didn't know. But they were there, whatever they were, and they were something she had to think about. If it was just a crush, then that would mean that she had the option of either trying to turn his crush into real love, or just running away and giving up on it (Since the heart ache along the way may just be too painful for her). If it was love, well... then they could just kiss and live happily ever after, and that would be the end. If he was just confused and actually didn't feel ANYTHING for her, then she always had Brainy to fall back on. But the problem with all this was that... he didn't know. He wouldn't tell her. She didn't know if he had a crush, love, or nothing. And THAT made her angry. Of all the scenarios she'd come up with for what would happen after her confession, THIS was NOT one of them. Since when was Arnold confused about ANYTHING? She knew it took him a little while to figure out that he'd come to have a crush on Lila, but that had only taken ONE night. THIS was taking FOREVER. She was so tired of hoping and feeling anxious around him and that feeling of not knowing what was to come. She just wanted to get whatever the heck was going to happen OVER WITH. She didn't care if he said he loved her or not, as long as whatever he had to say just came out already before she just keeled over from all the uncertainty suddenly clouding her life.

Life had been so simple before. She'd just love Arnold from afar, claim to hate him when he got too close, and that was it. Now that Arnold's feelings had come into the picture, along with Brainy's too, she just didn't know what she was going to do. She liked Brainy, but Brainy loved her, she loved Arnold, Arnold had 'feelings' for her but apparently had commitment issues...

When was it just going to end already?

Brainy had gone off to the bathroom at some point at the last recess of the day, leaving Helga to herself. She took the time to finally deal with her feelings in a more... 'constructive' way...

Helga angrily hit the rock against the picnic table she was sitting at, over and over. With each hit she'd grunt or growl, and with each grunt and growl she'd hit the table with more force and ferocity. She was just so mad! It was her defense mechanism, she supposed. Every time she felt even the tiniest bit sad, she'd quickly convert that sadness into anger. It was the only way she knew to survive, her only way she knew to protect herself. And so, she hit the table harder and harder, ignoring any attention she might be drawing to herself. "Stupid table! Stupid people! Stupid feelings! Stupid... stupid... STUPIDNESS!" She yelled out, finally managing to break the rock she was hitting the table against into two pieces. She glared at her now broken rock, growling, "Stupid rock."

Phoebe looked over at her tentatively, having been sitting next to her for the last while now whilst Helga had been raging. "Are you done?" She asked calmly in a soft voice, much like a therapist might, having been used to Helga having these little fits of anger whenever something that annoyed her went on.

Helga let out one last angry breath, settling back into her seat. She looked over at Phoebe then with a calm, even almost bored look. "Yeah, I'm done."

Phoebe nodded, a small smile coming to her face now. "Good. So, are you ready to tell me what it is that's causing you such distress, Helga?"

Helga looked at her for a moment, looking like she was just about to give in, before she suddenly scowled and stubbornly crossed her arms across her chest, turning away from her. "No."

Phoebe smiled, nodding her head. "Okay, Helga." She picked up the book she'd brought with her by her side, and opened it up in front of her, though she wasn't actually reading the pages. No, instead, she continued to have that small, knowing smile on her face whilst she stared into her book, pretending to read. _'Three... two... one...'_

"Okay, fine, I'll TELL YOU! Yeesh! Stop begging, PHEEBS!" Helga finally burst out dramatically, her eyes shifting all over to make sure no one was listening in. Once concluding they were fully alone, Helga looked to her somewhat tentatively. "Well, ya know how I told Ar-uh... _Ice Cream_ that I kind of... liked it?" Her eyes shifted around for another moment, almost expecting someone to just pop out of nowhere and go, 'AH-HA!'

Phoebe blinked a moment, before simply nodding in response to her question, her book long forgotten and sitting at her side again.

"Well, you know the story behind San Lorenzo, Pheebs. I opened up, we became closer, he actually seemed to care, bla, bla, bla. But ever since we've been back, he's been avoiding me like I have cooties or something. For a while I thought that he was trying to send me some kind of message or something. But before I could think about it anymore, that thing with Brainy in the cafeteria happened, and all heck broke loose. And now, I'm even more confused, Pheebs. I was confused about whether or not I liked Brainy in that way, and I still loved him so that just added to my confusion about what to do, so I very stupidly went to him for advice. I still don't completely understand what happened back there, but Arnold somehow switched everything around in his answer or something and it made me think he didn't like me, in a way. And since he hadn't just flat out rejected me yet, hearing him say the words out loud just drove me over the edge and I ran out. After that, followed some big confusing conversation, where Arnold suddenly, completely OUT OF NOWHERE, starts admitting that he's jealous of Brainy and has some kind of feelings for me. I mean, here I thought with all his weird behavior lately that he just didn't like me and was freaked out that I liked him, but apparently he's been secretly liking me ever since we got back from San Lorenzo. How nuts is that? Well, I asked him 'what kinds of feelings,' and he said that he didn't know. DIDN'T know! I mean, what the heck? Stupid Football Head. Well, I told him that when he figured it out, that I'd be with Brainy. And right before I left, he grabbed my hand real quick to keep me from going and said 'no.' I asked him what he wanted, but after a second he just let me go and said bye. Ugh. And now I don't know what to do, Pheebs. I'm so tired of having to deal with all these complicated feelings and emotions and all this junk. I mean, I've got Brainy on one end offering me his undying love, but on the other end I've got Arnold running around like a chicken with his head cut off. He's been acting so weird lately, Pheebs. Why can't he just tell me if he loves me or not so I can know whether to be crushed or elated. What's so difficult about figuring out whether or not you love someone? It was never hard for me. I don't know if I can handle having to deal with all this now, either. I'd always thought that after I told him, everything would just happen right then and there. That I'd either be walking out bawling or showing off my new wedding ring. I thought it would be simple. But it hasn't been. Not at all. In fact, he's just made my life even more complicated, and I don't know what to do anymore. I just want him to be honest with me, is that too much to ask, and from ARNOLD no less?"

Phoebe was surprised to hear Helga share so much with her. Usually, she'd be very vague on the details and only talk to her in code. And even though she had STARTED out the conversation in code, she'd forgotten all about it almost instantly after she got started with talking. Phoebe knew that this entire situation must really be bothering Helga if it was enough to get her to share absolutely everything with her... and in plain English, no less.

Under Phoebe's surprise, though, was a layer of sadness for her friend. No matter what anyone said, they were best friends, and she hated to see her friend look so helpless...

Phoebe took a moment to analyze every aspect in her head of her friend's dilemma, going over every possible detail of what she should say back, like a computer. Within seconds, Phoebe had her answer, and she really hated what her head had come up with... Trying to soften the blow first, though, Phoebe began, "Well, I'm very sorry that all of this has confused you so indefinitely, Helga..."

Helga stared at her intently, clearly hanging off of her every word, still with that touch of sadness and confusion in her gaze. All of this only made Phoebe frown further as she continued.

"And you're correct, it is wrong of Arnold to be leading you on like he is, giving you hope when there may not even be any... That isn't very... nice of him. And he shouldn't be sending mixed signals to you like he is... But Helga," Phoebe nearly winced at what she was about to say, "how can you expect him to be completely openly honest with you when you haven't been with him for nearly our entire lives?"

"Huh?" Helga raised one side of her eyebrow at her friend, having not expected THIS kind of response from her friend at ALL.

Phoebe sighed, clearing her throat quick as she tried to elaborate, "Well, Helga, for our entire lives you've been telling him that you hate him, when it is clear that that has not been the case. And when you finally _do_ get up the confidence to finally confess, you take it back immediately after-"

"HEY, he offered!" Helga defended, a hint of a defensive scowl coloring her face.

"That may be, Helga, but you... 'took the bait,' so to speak. You gave him and yourself an out, and, in effect, you very well may have confused him. How is he supposed to know if you love him truly or if you really did temporarily lose your mind in the heat of the moment? It is a rather perplexing situation, Helga." Phoebe blinked, putting the hand that had been gesticulating amidst all this down.

Helga sat there now, a completely stumped look on her face and her unibrow as straight as straight could be... "So you really think he doesn't know I love him...? But that's crazy, Pheebs, he-"

"No, no, Helga," Phoebe interrupted as respectively as she could, "I have no doubt that he does indeed know at this point, but I'm just saying that, well... You've been throwing rather confusing situations at him for a long time now, and here you are sitting before me, telling me of how you're angry at HIM for throwing a confusing situation at YOU now. Do you see what I mean?"

Helga blinked, some understanding now coming to her eyes, though it was clear by her expression that she was still a little confused by why her friend chose to point all this out right now when all she'd asked for was a little understanding as to why her beloved was acting like such an enigma. "Well, what do you say I should do about that? Confess to him AGAIN and plant a big kiss on him?"

"Well, actually..." Phoebe began, looking away a moment. "It might serve well to get everything with how you're feeling out in the open officially if you want him to do the same."

Helga looked down a moment at that, a contemplative look clouding her face. But before she could think anymore about that or reply back to her best friend, the sound of a distinctive wheezing came up on her from behind. Helga blinked out of her thoughts, turning around to come face to face with Brainy, looking at her with a small smile on his wheezing lips.

"Brainy!" Helga couldn't help but yell as a reflex, sitting a bit farther back away from him. _'Darn, that was something I wanted to talk to Phoebe about, too... What am I going to do with Sir Wheeze-a-lot?_' Helga thought, turning around to see Phoebe standing from the table and giving her a short wave before walking off, obviously not wanting to 'intrude.' Helga sighed, looking back into the face of her 'boyfriend' and thinking of how much she wished he was Arnold...

* * *

Arnold sat across the playground on the monkey bars, it being the end of the day now and him just waiting for his parents to come pick him up, one leg propped up right along with him on his perch and his head resting on his hand that was propping up his head on his knee. A very deeply thoughtful look was on his face, pretty much thinking about the exact same thing that had been on his mind ever since the FTi incident, and ESPECIALLY since that whole jungle incident when this entire dilemma with his feelings had really started... He glanced up nearly involuntarily in the direction he knew Helga was, and nearly choked on air when he saw Brainy sitting with her now, the two of them chatting pleasantly... though Helga did look a bit more tired than normal... he figured that was probably his fault, Arnold thought, with a small sting through his heart. His stomach was twisting rather sickeningly at seeing the two of them looking so content talking to each other, but for the life of him he just couldn't tear his eyes away...

The sound of a car horn shocked him out of his intent staring at Helga and her stalker, and Arnold snapped around to see his dad just happily sitting at the driver's wheel of the packard on the street, still obviously getting a kick out of picking his son up from school (Considering all the years he'd missed out on doing so). Despite everything, Arnold couldn't help the excited grin that blossomed on his face at the sight of his dad, and he quickly jumped down from the top of the monkey bars and sprinted over to him, also likewise still getting a kick out of being picked up from school by his _dad_...

Now at the car window that was rolled down and revealing his dad at the wheel, Arnold grinned and said yet again happily (He just couldn't get enough of it), "Hey, _Dad_!"

Miles grinned right back at him, the same smile reflecting off of both of their faces. "Hey there, _son_. Hop in."

* * *

**A/N: **Yes, I just HAD to do it... XD Arnold is going to be getting some fatherly advice in the next chapter... ;) Yup, no more 'Never eat raspberries' advice for him! *Giggles* That is going to be SOOOO fun to write. I've never really had to write anything for Miles before, but I just KNOW that it's going to be FUN as HECK! *Dances* And yepperooni, this fic is almost done. Next chapter involves Arnold getting his advice, Helga and Arnold finally having their long-overdue run in and talk with each other, and Brainy and Helga having a pretty interesting chat, too... ;) What will happen? Who'll end up with who? Well, just stay tuned! This story is STILL going! *Stamps feet spiritedly*

Now, if you'd pretty please with double chocolate fudge on top... *Flutters eyelashes as adorably as possibly*

**_REVIEW!_**


	7. Football Headed Confessions

**A/N: **Okay, I'm going to warn you all now... There will be ANOTHER chapter! *Grins extremely guiltily* Heh, heh... It's just that this chapter got so LONG (As in, it's reached nearly as long as one of my "The Pickle Jar" chapters (Which, if you didn't know, are very long)), and so I decided it would be best if I split this chapter into two parts. The second one has yet to be written, for I am lazy and am having problems figuring out what I should write... since I cut this chapter off right at when the "Brainy talk" I said would happen was going to occur. XD But don't worry, this chapter has the Father/Son talk I was talking about, along with the big "Arnold and Helga Chat." So all that is here, and fully written... except for the Brainy Talk... But looking on the bright side, this means that in the next chapter, in order to make it a sufficient ending and not 'super short' chapter, I'm going to have to figure out one last thing that can occur that will have this story REALLY go out with a bang... Perhaps some more ArnoldxHelga fluffiness or something, since I leave it off rather vaguely here. *Shrugs* But, we'll see. I just wanted to let you guys know. So... yeah. Just go ahead and read now, and no flames! Alrighty then. Have a good read (I hope)!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own "_Hey Arnold_!" I know, right? _SO_ shocking. Pfft.

* * *

**Brainy's Confession**

**Chapter 7**

The ride home from school had begun pleasantly enough, as it always did, but (being more used to this sort of thing happening every day now) Arnold's thoughts soon began plummeting back to his current situation... and a small frown soon came to his face, slumping a bit in his seat.

"And that was pretty much the end of our fifth consecutive escape plan." Miles said, still lost in his story telling and his eyes focused responsibly on the road, "We had to take a pretty long break after that one, considering all the broken bones I had. And all of the other escape plans pretty much ended the exact same way... It's a good thing you and your friends showed up when you did. I'd all but given up at that point, but your mother, just as fiery as ever, just wouldn't stop coming up with more and more plans that I inevitably had to participate in. We'd thought that rescue parties abandoned our case years ago, and with how slowly time passed in that old dungeon we'd just figured that you'd completely forgotten you even had parents to begin with and were just starting college or something. So it was a pretty big surprise to see you and your friends coming to our rescue when you did..." Miles smiled, stealing a glance over at his son. But instead of seeing his smile reflected back at him like it usually was, Arnold was just staring out the window with a wistful look on his face. Miles blinked, raising an eyebrow. He'd been seeing his son making that same expression for quite a few days now, but since he was still just getting to know his son he didn't want to intrude on his personal life or anything... He was still walking on eggshells around his son, still harboring the inane fear that his son wouldn't like him.

But, being the worried and concerned parent that he was, Miles had had enough. He focused his eyes back on the road, and asked, "Arnold, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Arnold looked over at him finally, blinking a couple times. Though after a second his eyes lit up with recognition, just processing what it was his father was inquiring. "Oh, uh... I'm fine... Dad." He looked down at his lap then, feeling a little weird about talking to his dad about something as serious as, '_Dad, a girl is angry with me because I won't tell her if I'm in love with her or not. What should I do?_'

Miles, though, knowing that his son wasn't being entirely truthful to him, just sighed, replying back, "Are you sure, son? You know, you can talk to your mother and I about anything... You know that, right, Arnold?" He spared a glance at his son once more.

Arnold frowned, guilt starting to gnaw at him for making his dad feel like he was uncomfortable around him (even if it WAS a little true). He sighed, rubbing his arm a little as he began, "Yeah, I know that, Dad. It's just... Well, this is a pretty complicated situation I'm in..."

"Well, if you don't want to tell me, Arnold, then you don't have to. But it couldn't hurt to get it off of your chest, and who knows? Maybe I can even help you out." Miles pressed a bit more with an encouraging smile to his son, really tired of seeing his son looking all sad all the time.

Arnold sighed again, his guilt growing with how much Miles really seemed to want to help him. After several seconds of pensive silence, Arnold gave in with a sigh and spoke, "Okay, I guess it couldn't hurt..." He sat silent a moment, contemplating where to begin. "Okay, well, I guess it all started around the time Scheck tried tearing down the neighborhood. I've already told you this story, though, so you know what happened. But there WAS one little detail I might have left out..." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Oh, and what's that?" Miles asked, glancing at his son again before his eyes settled back on the road in front of them.

"Well, I told you that Gerald, Helga and I all saved the neighborhood together."

"Yup, just like you three saved your mom and I." Miles added in with a grin.

"Yeah... Well, Helga DID help us, but she did it in a more... um, _secretive_ way. She went undercover and talked to us through a voice box on the telephone. Gerald and I had no idea WHO was helping us at the time. But around the end of our adventure, I found Deep Voi-Uh, Helga hiding and I confronted her. I wanted to know why she helped us when she always claimed she hated me."

"Wait a minute..." Miles stopped him, blinking a few times in confusion. "Helga... hated you?"

"Well, I THOUGHT she did. She's been my bully practically my whole life. She's shot spit balls, tripped me, called me 'Football Head,' and basically just been... really mean." Arnold's eyes went down cast again.

"Helga is your BULLY?" Miles asked in shock, this little piece of information being news to him.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I never really told you, did I?" Arnold laughed a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck again. "But yeah, she is... or, well... WAS, anyway. But like I was saying, I wanted to know why she was helping me when she'd always made it clear that she despised me. At first, she wouldn't tell me. She kept making up all these lame excuses. But finally, I was able to get her to tell me the truth, and well..."

Miles parked the Packard outside of the boarding house, shifting slightly so he could give his son his unbridled attention, clearly anxious to hear what he was going to say.

Seeing his father's attentive stare, Arnold gulped and finally came out with it, "She told me she did it because she loved me."

Miles' eyes widened at that, starting to see a bit of a pattern here...

Arnold just continued on, though, clearly embarrassed and just wanting to get everything out on the table as fast as possible now that he'd started, "And then she grabbed me and kissed me and I didn't know what to do after that so I asked her if she hated me, and she just went along with it and said that yeah she did, and everything went back to normal. But then when we all went to San Lorenzo after I won that essay contest, she tagged along with me and Gerald to find you guys and I couldn't get her to go back to camp, so she ended up helping us out again. And I just did my best to ignore her and focus on finding you guys, but she just wouldn't leave me be, and I ended up learning a lot more about her. And everything was fine for a while before I started feeling kind of weird around her and it freaked me out so I started distancing myself from her and refusing to talk to her about anything but finding you guys. So then we found you and we went home, and I just kind of did the same thing. I refused to talk to her anymore, I ignored her at every turn, and I just kind of... admired her from afar." Arnold gulped after admitting this little piece of information to his dad, though he managed to continue on, "And everything was fine for a while, but then this kid at my school named Brainy came into the picture and admitted that he's in love with Helga and she ended up giving him a chance. And I ended up feeling really j-jealous and giving her some really messed up advice that sort of suggested that I didn't like her when I actually kinda do. So she got all upset with me and I admitted that I liked her but I didn't know if I l-l-loved her and she got mad at me and ran off with Brainy and started shoving the fact that she's with _him_ and not _me_ in my face and it's been REALLY bugging me and I don't know what to do anymore because she's expecting me to either tell her I love her or hate her when I don't know HOW I feel about her! And now I'm just confused and I don't know what to think or feel or how I'm supposed to fix things and I-I-I just-"

"WOA there, Arnold!" Miles quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, seeing how Arnold just kept getting more and more worked up it seemed. He'd pretty much just gotten to the point where he looked like he was going to explode, and that was NOT happening on Miles' watch. Miles just stared at him a few moments in both shock, concern and amusement, shaking his head slightly at his heavily breathing son. "Don't hurt yourself, son." Miles managed a small chuckle, slowly letting his hand slip from Arnold's mouth. "Now let me just make sure I've got this straight... Helga loves you, but she's with this Brainy kid, and you've been feeling jealous and don't know how you feel about her, and that made Helga angry and now she's been actively trying to make you feel jealous..."

Arnold sighed, feeling his emotions calm now. "That's right."

"Well then..." Miles began a bit uncertainly, a bit amazed by just HOW complicated his son's situation really was. "I guess the first thing for you to do would be to figure out how you feel about her."

"Yeah, I know. That's what Gerald told me." Arnold sighed, slumping in his seat again. "But it's easier said than done. I mean, I know that I have feelings for her, but how am I supposed to know if they're love or just some crush or something? And even if they do turn out to be love, what am I supposed to do about that? I'm only ten! You and Mom didn't end up falling in love until you were all grown up and had a job and everything."

"Hmmm..." Miles began, sitting back in his seat as well. "Well, that may be true. But Mom and Dad fell in love at about your age, and look at them. They turned out fine."

Arnold sighed, opening his mouth to reply back when... it occurred to him just who his father's mom and dad _were_, and he gasped almost violently and swung his head around to face his dad with huge eyes. "WHAT?"

"I said that your grandma and grandpa fell in love at about your age and that they turned out fine. Maybe you're just worrying too much." Miles repeated, thinking that he just hadn't heard him right. Although the fact that his son's inquiry was yelled practically right at him, he did turn his head to his son with a raised eyebrow.

"No, no, I mean, Grandpa and Grandma fell in love when they were TEN?" Arnold elaborated in a rush, his eyes still wide in shock.

"Well, yeah. You didn't know?" Miles blinked in confusion, having assumed that this was something his father would have told his son years ago.

Having this fact confirmed for him, something seemed to finally click in Arnold's mind, and his jaw dropped nearly all the way to the floor. "So that means that... GRANDMA was GERTIE?"

"Of course." Miles confirmed again, still looking perplexed.

"S-So that means..." It hit him all at once, like a piano to the head. "_Oh my_..." Arnold collapsed back against his seat, his jaw still dropped slightly and looking a little woozy, to say the least.

Miles blinked, what must be going on just starting to dawn on him. "Oh, so Grandpa told you the story, he just didn't tell you who the girl was that always picked on him?" There was an amused gleam in his eye.

"Uh-huh..." Was all Arnold could manage in his state, along with a very weak nod of his head.

Miles chuckled. "Oh, well, now you know. Gertie is your grandmother's name. Around your age, your grandma confessed to having a giant crush on your grandpa. Dad didn't know how to feel about that at the time, so the two of them just pretended it never happened for a little while. But soon enough, Dad came around and admitted that he really liked her back. And the two of them grew up, got married, had me, and are still happily married all these years later. So, like I said, maybe you're just overreacting a bit. Who knows? Maybe the two of you could turn out just like my mom and dad." Miles grinned at the idea, though this entire situation really did confuse and amaze him still... His son, ten-years-old, and in love. Miles shook his head slightly with a mental sigh. '_Where has the time gone..._'

His father's little speech did little to sooth the young boy, though, as he felt himself about to pass out from all of this hitting him all at once. "A-Ah... I think I need to lie down..." A flash of the FTi building went through his mind then, along with Helga's voice, '_Wonderful, I'll go with you_!' He felt himself get even more woozy then and he groaned slightly, and he honestly just didn't know how much longer he'd be able to hold out.

This entire situation had been completely crazy from the very beginning. Honestly, how many ten-year-olds had to deal with this kind of stuff? A good passing out really did sound appealing to him, especially after everything he'd been going through, and on top of it all, now he had to deal with the fact that his grandparents had gone through the EXACT SAME situation as him, and here they were nearly a century later, married with a full grown son. And Arnold couldn't help but think... What if... What if the exact same thing really _did_ happen to him? What if he really was in love with Helga, and the two of them ended up getting married and having kids and growing _old_ together...? Another wave of nausea hit him at the thought, and he found himself digging his nails into the seats of the car, trying to keep himself from just plain passing out... especially since... that entire scenario really didn't sound all that bad to him...

More nausea.

But really, when you got down to it, what would really be so bad about being in love with her? His grandpa was able to admit that he loved his grandma at his age, and look at him. The only supposed 'bad' thing that happened to him was that he grew up to have a happy life with a loving wife and a happy kid. So really, his entire reason for refusing to admit to loving her had just been blown out of the water... What was the sense in fighting it anymore?

"Oh, geez..." Arnold muttered, his finger nails still painfully digging into the fabric of the seats. "I really do love her, don't I...?"

And with this small admission finally coming out, Arnold's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he just collapsed in his seat, unconscious.

Miles blinked in surprise at seeing his son suddenly falling back like that, his eyes widening a bit. "Arnold?"

* * *

"I'm fine, Mom, really."

"Are you sure, Sweetheart? You don't have a fever or anything, do you?" A cool cloth was suddenly pushed up against his forehead.

"I don't think so..."

"Oh, leave the poor boy alone already." Phil interjected from his chair on the other side of the living room. "He just passed out, he didn't just get hit over the head with a rock or anything."

Stella frowned, dipping her cloth back into the bucket of water and ringing it out. "Well, I'm sorry. I'm just worried, that's all."

Arnold smiled reassuringly at his mom from his seat on the couch, feeling some warmth come to his heart at how she was fussing over him. "Really, Mom, I'm fine. I just... got a little overwhelmed is all." He shrugged.

"Well..." Stella began unsurely, continuing to ring out her cloth. "Okay." She stood up slowly from where she'd been sitting on the coffee table. "If you're sure you're fine."

"I am." Arnold smiled, nodding his head. "...More than fine, actually." He admitted with a blush, recalling what it was that had made him pass out in the first place.

Stella blinked, dropped her cloth into the bucket of water as she asked her son, "What was it that overwhelmed you exactly?"

"Oh, just something that Dad told me that I didn't know before. Apparently the girl that used to pick on Grandpa, Gertie, is the girl that he ended up marrying."

"What?" Phil exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. "You TOLD him?" He yelled in shock at his son, currently sitting in the chair beside the one he was just sitting in.

Miles blinked, shrugging his shoulders. "Uh, yeah. I'd just assumed that he knew already, but apparently he didn't, so I told him. Why?"

"'_W-Why?_' Don't you understand what you've just done? Now he knows! He wasn't SUPPOSED to know, because then that might influence his decision! I wanted him to make his own choices, have him figure things out on his own, have everything evolve naturally. But now everything is out in the open! Don't you realize what you've just CAUSED! W-Why, the entire space time continuum has been tampered with now! Young Arnold has been influenced! _The entire universe could EXPLODE!_" He waved his arms around crazily.

Everyones' eyes in the room went half-lidded, and they all shared a look with each other. After a moment, Miles spoke, "Dad, are you sure you're not just overreacting a little?"

"Overr-OF COURSE NOT!" Phil exclaimed, looking offended at the very accusation.

Arnold held back a chuckle, standing up from the couch. "Grandpa, it's okay. Actually, if it wasn't for Dad telling me that story, I never might have admitted that I..." He trailed off, feeling a little weird about admitting it out loud to his grandpa, dad, and mom (And his mom didn't even know ANYTHING about the situation yet, too).

Phil stared at him a long moment, seeming to understand what it was he was about to say, and he calmed down. "Oh, well..." He cleared his throat, putting his hands behind his back. "Okay, never mind then." He sat down again, picking up his newspaper and beginning to read again, as if nothing had ever happened.

"_O_kay, so... What is it that you might never have admitted to, Sweetie?" Stella asked, feeling a little curious, especially since her son had trailed off like that.

"O-Oh, uh... Just that I might sort of like this girl after all." Arnold admitted with a blush, clasping his hands behind his back and looking away awkwardly.

"Awwww, how sweet. Was it that nice friend of yours named Helga that we met?" Stella asked, sitting back down on the coffee table and smiling a bit wider at the idea of her son having a little crush.

Arnold noticed his grandpa shaking a little in his seat, like he was trying to keep from laughing, and Arnold frowned a little, his blush increasing. "Uh... _Yeah_, actually." He admitted uncomfortably, before clearing his throat and somehow managing to make eye contact with his mom again. "Um, can I go now...? Please?" Arnold asked a little desperately, this topic feeling awkward enough as it was without his mom suddenly having a gigglefest over it along with his grandpa.

Noticing his slight distress over being called out on it, Stella smiled understandingly and stood up again, grabbing her bucket of water up and heading for the kitchen. "Sure, Honey. If you're going out, remember to be back by nine."

"Okay, Mom. I think I'm just going to go take a walk. Some fresh air sounds pretty nice right now." He managed a smile.

"Good idea, Honey. After passing out like you did, some fresh air _should_ do you some good." Stella cast him one last smile over her shoulder, before disappearing into the kitchen.

Arnold gave an awkward smile at the knowing looks from his grandpa and dad, and just casually (or as casually as he could considering all the things he bumped into on his escape) excused himself from the room.

Once outside of the boarding house and home free, Arnold let out a sigh of relief, stuffing his hands into his pockets and beginning to walk down the street in the direction of the park, really just wanting some time to clear his head and think out his plan of how he was going to approach Helga about all of this...

* * *

After finishing her chat with Brainy after school, Helga began on her way back home, conveniently deciding on taking a short cut through the park.

That was where she spotted him, standing on the bridge with his arms propping up his head on the rail as he stared down at his reflection in the water.

She blinked upon seeing him, a bit surprised by the oddly melancholy look on his face as he stared down at himself. Only standing a few several feet away, Helga sucked up all the courage she had and approached him, making an effort to be as quiet as possible for fear of having him turn to look at her.

She stood behind him now, happy he hadn't turned his beautifully green gaze to her just yet. Though she knew he was aware of her presence, he didn't make a sound.

Finally, she took a deep breath, and said, "I love you."

There was a moment of surprised silence, before Arnold finally turned his head to look at her, some confusion etched across his face. "I know that, Helga..." He blinked at her, not quite understanding why she would feel the need to tell him something he already knew very well (Very, very well).

Helga gave a small, airy laugh at that, even managing a small smirk as she replied, "I know. But I just wanted to let you know... officially." Her smirk evolved into a soft smile, proud of herself for managing _another_ confession without completely throwing herself at him for once. She continued then, taking a small step closer to him and glancing away a moment. "Phoebe just kind of explained to me earlier that it wasn't exactly fair of me to get all mad at you for not being clear to me about how you feel when..." She rubbed the back of her neck a little awkwardly. "...when I haven't been honest with to you about my feelings practically our whole lives." She laughed a little nervously, glancing back at him now with a bit of a sheepish smile.

Arnold blinked at this, even more surprise starting to show on his face... before it all drained from his features with a long sigh, and he rested his head back in one of his hands as he looked at her. "Well, it's not exactly as simple as that, Helga." He smiled.

Helga blinked, walking all the way over to him now on the bridge and standing next to him. "What do you mean?"

Arnold sighed a bit again, looking over at his reflection in the water again as he explained, "Well, it's different for you to not be honest with your feelings because, well... People expect that from _you_." Noticing the scowl suddenly starting to show on her face, he continued swiftly, though with a bit of a flat edge to his voice, "You know it's true, Helga. I always knew you were hiding something. I just never knew it was something as serious as, well... _this_." He sighed again, happy the scowl had at least lessened on her face a bit, some sad understanding starting to light in her eyes as he continued, now facing her slightly again, "So yeah, people expect you to be confusing and dishonest, and though it's still not right and... a little frustrating sometimes, it's different for me to not be honest with my feelings because that's all I've ever done... Be honest. So me not being completely honest and just telling you off the bat how I feel about you is-"

"-different because that's not what people expect from you, so it's even more frustrating and confusing..." Helga finished for him, completely understanding where he was coming from. He was right. People expected her to be dishonest and shady about things, so it was easy to just disregard anything she ever did or said because you already knew she was going to do that or say this, but Arnold...? Of course not. It just left you with about a million questions. And it was exactly what had been annoying her to no end all day long. Since when was Arnold an enigma? He was always straight-forward about things, so when he wasn't... it just left her with even more questions unanswered and with an even bigger migraine... She sighed, the logic making sense to her and yet filling her with a deep frustration at herself. Why did she have to keep all this a secret for so _long_? And why did she always have to be so annoyingly confusing and unbelievably crooked?

"Exactly..." Arnold smiled at her, bringing her out of her thoughts. His smile dropped then, and he looked at her with very apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry I've been acting the way I've been acting, by the way. I guess I just... didn't know how to react."

"I know. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have jumped on you like that, or expected you to just know exactly what to say and feel the moment after I confessed. It wasn't fair of me. And I'm sorry for using Brainy to try and make you jealous before. That was stupid. And I'm also sorry for being the way I have been for the past... Whoo, _forever_." She laughed a second, before a cough interrupted her and she took a deep breath, letting it all out in a sigh and staring down at her own reflection in the water now, her pigtails drooping. "I definitely have more to apologize for than you do."

"It's okay, Helga. All has already been forgiven. At least you had a good reason for acting the way you have. Sure, it wasn't exactly the best way to deal with your feelings, but... I understand why you did all you did." He smiled again, giving her a small pat on the back, his hand lingering there for perhaps a few seconds longer than proper...

Helga didn't seem to notice, though, just silently reveling in the feel of his warm hand on her back, and truly happy he was forgiving her like he was... even if she didn't feel like she deserved it. "Thanks..." She smiled this time, her lips desperately fighting against the big grin that was threatening to spring across her features.

Arnold didn't hold back, though, the grin nearly spreading clear across his wide head.

There were several seconds of silence as the two of them just gazed at each other, the smiles never faltering on either of their faces.

Finally, though, Arnold realized just what it was they were doing, and he blushed, finally letting his hand drop from her back, and quickly wiping the grin from his face as he looked away. "Listen, Helga, about my feelings... uh..."

Helga giggled slightly, her eyes half-lidded and perhaps still a little lost in thought about how they'd literally just been gazing at each other. "What about 'em, _Arnold_?" She couldn't help the flirty way she drew out his name.

Not recognizing her tone and not noticing the look on her face, since he wasn't quite looking at her at the moment, Arnold laughed a little nervously back and awkwardly began rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, well... I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I had a pretty helpful talk with my dad, and well... I think I've pretty much got everything figured out now."

"Oh, _do_ you?" She giggled again, not quite processing just what it was he was trying to say just yet.

Still not looking at her, Arnold continued, his hand now dropping from it's position on the back of his neck as he rambled slightly, "Y-Yeah, I do. It's been pretty confusing, and honestly... a little scary, too, because... I kept thinking that if I finally gave into what I was feeling that something terrible would happen or something, or that it simply wouldn't work out, or that I wasn't ready to really be _in love_ just yet, but... Well, I-I think I'm okay now, a-and, I'm willing to take a risk if it means that there's a chance we'll end up as happy as I think we will... So..." He took a deep breath, turning slightly to take her hand in both of his, and gazing down at it affectionately (And still not quite ready to look her in the eye just yet) as he admitted... "H-Helga, I think I... I mean, I think I _know_ that I... I-I _love..._ you." He finally managed to look up at her then, his expression the very definition of 'nervous wreck.'

Perhaps she was still a little lost in whatever dream world she'd allowed herself to slip into, or perhaps she was just so overwhelmed by his confession that she snapped, but... whatever the reason, Helga completely threw herself at him as soon as the words left his mouth, and she practically crashed her lips into his mouth hard enough to cause serious pain (if it wasn't for the fact that he had possibly the _softest_ lips she'd ever felt). Arnold, having completely not expected such a thing from her (Even though he knew he probably _should_ have), just ended up tumbling backward completely and onto his back on the bridge with a firm and somewhat alarmed, "MOOF!"

Helga either didn't notice or didn't care, though, as she just continued happily kissing him, making sure to do as thorough a job as possible (Since, really, who knew when the next time she'd get to do this would be? At least to someone as mild-mannered and modest as freaking _Arnold_, that is, in love with her or not), and her hands gripping at his collar just to make sure he didn't try to pull away and end the precious, wonderful, _delicious_ contact... though he didn't show any sort of sign of wanting to pull away, and wasn't exactly _resisting_ her advances... His lips seemed paralyzed against her own, and his body was completely unmoving, almost as if he were dead... but the rapid pounding of his heart against her chest (that she could feel most prominently, considering how her chest was flush against his own) told her otherwise. No, he was indeed very much alive, and his lips were very vaguely moving against her own, as hers practically consumed his.

Finally, though, that horrid, unfortunately very _necessary_ need for air nagged at both her lungs and mind, and she pulled away from him, panting and a bit unwilling to look him in the eye just yet. He didn't say anything. Soon, though, her panting ceased completely and she let out one final breath, and finally managed to drag her eyes back up to his own...

...and was met by two wide, lovestruck eyes, glowing a radiant, loving green, and a very small, yet noticeable smile shakily forming at the corners of his mouth.

Before she could process what all this meant, though, a hand suddenly connected with the back of her head and pushed down quite abruptly, and her lips smashed into Arnold's already puckered ones. Her eyes went wide as she realized Arnold was actually willingly_ kissing_ her... and quite passionately, she might add. Unknowing of what else to do at a time like this, Helga just kissed back eagerly, her eyes not quite closed due to the lingering shock and amazement, but involuntarily half-lidded at this point.

But after a few (precious, wondrous, passionate) seconds, Arnold pulled away from her with a snap of their lips and a short moan on his account, and Helga's eyes went fully wide again in order to observe him as he panted slightly (even though they'd only been kissing for four, maybe five (precious, wondrous, passionate) seconds). Finally, though, he took a deep breath, and said in an extremely dreamy tone that she'd never heard him use before, "I've been waiting to do that practically for_ever_..."

Helga blinked at this a few times, not quite sure how to respond to such a statement. "Um... forever?" She finally questioned in her own quite unavoidably dreamy tone, light and airy, much like her thoughts at the moment.

Arnold sighed a quite lovesick sigh, nodding with very glassy-looking eyes as he stared past her. "Ever since San Lorenzo..." His eyes came into focus a little now, and he observed her dazedly, yet musingly. "You have blue eyes..."

Helga blinked at this, once again struck dumb by him. "Um... nice of you to notice, Arnold..." She replied uncertainly, her tone somewhat back to normal now, and her eyes looking a bit worried now... Did he hit his head on the bridge when he fell backwards like that?

Arnold smiled a small half-smile, reaching a hand up slightly to point vaguely at one of her eyes. "I never noticed before... How funny is that? That I'd never notice something so obvious...?" His eyes drifted off contemplatively, his finger falling away from her face slightly, and for a moment Helga wondered if he was talking about her eyes anymore as he muttered, "Very funny... and kinda stupid, too..." He blushed.

Very tired of feeling confused around him and feeling like he was talking to her in riddles, she stood up and off of him, ignoring his still-gone groan of protest. She dusted herself off then, as she muttered out to him in slight irritation, "Well, great. I love you, you love me, and I have blue eyes. Grand. But I'd really rather have this conversation in a place more, I don't know... not on the ground?" She reached her hand down for him to grab then, which he did after a short look at her hand, and she pulled him up. "So..." She began shyly now, the weight of everything that had just happened starting to bear down on her. She didn't let go of his hand.

Arnold was still a bit lost in thought, though, as he muttered out to her (Though it seemed to mostly be to himself), his own hand still gripping hers and his eyes intent on their adjoined hands, "How could I have not noticed...?"

Helga blinked at this, before she sighed and told him flatly, "Arnold, I get it. I have blue eyes. But it's not that big of a deal. Could we just-"

"No, Helga," Arnold interrupted her, looking at her again as he corrected, "How could I have not noticed _us_?"

Helga's face went blank then, along with her head, and she blinked. "Huh?"

Arnold sighed, squeezing her hand a little as he explained, "Well, I don't know. It just seems kind of stupid that it took me all this time just to come to the conclusion that I love you." He sighed once again, looking at her with some shame and his head bowed slightly. "I'm sorry."

Helga blinked very slowly at this... before she snorted very loudly, startling him, and she laughed... once again, quite loudly. "Arnold," She began, her chuckles ending rather abruptly and her tone serious, uncaring, yet amused, "I don't care about that anymore, seriously. And you shouldn't fret over it either. The important thing is that you _did_ come to that conclusion." She took a moment to sigh happily, before she continued, "And you've only _just_ admitted it. I want to cherish this moment, not have it be ruined by your silly little guilt trips." She waved him off, and gave him a peck on the cheek (causing his newly realized smitten heart to skip a beat), before carefully separating their hands and taking a step back from him with a guilty grin. "But unfortunately, the moment _will_ inevitably have to be ruined now, because I just realized I still have a boyfriend." She laughed a little uneasily, looking away.

Arnold stiffened slightly at the reminder, and he nodded. "Oh yeah... Right." He managed tersely, willing his mouth to leave it at that... no matter how many annoyed, covetous things seemed to be begging to pop out of his mouth. She was his now, he knew it... it just needed to be made official... But still... '_Ugh.__.._' Who knew jealousy could be so much harder to deal with after you've actually admitted to yourself that you love someone?

Helga nodded, still looking away from him. "Yeah... So before anything can _really_ happen between us (and too much has happened already), I'm going to have to have a long talk with Brainy about some things." She nodded to herself, confirming to herself that this was what needed to be done, before looking back over to Arnold.

Arnold twitched slightly, looking at her tensely as he asked, just to make sure... "And you're going to break up with him, right?"

Helga giggled at his jealous little questioning... before his question hit her seriously, and she coughed a little and looked down a bit guiltily.

Arnold couldn't help but freak a little, as his eyes grew wider and wider with her continued silence. "Helga! You _are_ going to break up with him, aren't you? I mean, I just-"

Helga cut him off with a hand to his mouth, giggling once again despite herself. She shook her head at him. "Yes, Arnold, I'm going to break up with him. Don't worry. I'm just... a little sad that it has to end like this." She looked down again, thinking on how much she really did like Brainy... It just wasn't in the way he liked her, and not anything like how she cared for Arnold.

Arnold seemed to relax slightly under her hand, understanding her concerns. He took her hand off of his mouth, and held it between both hands, squeezing it reassuringly. "It's okay, Helga. I know it's hard, but... it's the right thing to do."

"Yes, and if Arnold says it, then it must be true." Helga mused sarcastically to herself, sighing. "Well, okay then."

She began to remove her hand from his again, but he grasped it tightly in his hands, not quite letting go just yet. He smiled at her charmingly, leaning down to give her hand one final lingering kiss before he let it go willingly and stepped away. "Okay, Helga. I guess I'll see you later?" He asked casually with his hands burying themselves into his pockets, like he was just talking to a regular old friend as opposed to his soon-to-be girlfriend.

Helga understood what he was doing and played along, looking him over with her arms crossing themselves casually over her chest. "Yeah, Football Head. Maybe we can catch a movie later or something."

Arnold grinned at the prospect, despite the little game he'd started, and he nodded, leaning towards her slightly with unintentionally half-lidded eyes. "I'm going to hold you to that." He kissed her affectionately on the cheek then and walked off, as if nothing particularly out of the ordinary had just happened.

Once he was gone, Helga finally just allowed the giant goofy smile to spring across her face, and she sighed a very lovesick sigh. "Oh, Arnold... so sweet, so charming, so romantic..." She took out her locket then from her shirt and gazed at it lovingly. "You wonderful creature, with your dazzling good looks and your charming little smile and beautiful half-lidded gaze..." She let out a little swoon, her eyes momentarily rolling into the back of her head as she closed her eyes, and held the locket close to her heart... Once they opened again, though, they narrowed slightly and a grin spread across her face as she gazed down at the little heart-shaped frame. "And _all_ mine, too. _Definitely_ well worth the wait." She giggled then, the love sickness overtaking her face once again, as it always did. "Oh, my perfect little love god. I would've waited a _million_ more tomorrows just to see that gorgeously lovesick look on your face." A squeal overtook her then, and she twirled around. "And all over me! You love ME! Not Ruth, or Lila, or Summer! But ME! Really _ME_!" She squealed once more, before a herd of giggles rushed out of her mouth as she gazed down at the picture of her beloved. And then with one final lovesick sigh, she pressed the cool glass of his face to her lips, imagining back to how wonderful his actual, real lips felt against her own... so warm, and sweet, and compliant...

The sudden sound of wheezing coming from behind her immediately broke her of her daydreams, though, and her eyes immediately shot open at the speed of lightning, and she nearly dropped her Arnold locket in the pure shock of it all.

"Uh... hi..." Brainy wheezed out awkwardly, lifting a hand up as if to greet her.

* * *

**A/N: **Teehee... XD I bet you all hate me now. I totally just left it here! MWAHAHA! You must all bow now to my amazing cliff-hanger writing skiz-ills! HAHAHAHA! XD

Well, now then... Um, next chapter will be up as soon as I can get it done. And it will DEFINITELY (I think) be the LAST (I think) chapter (I think)!

And now then, NOW _I think_ it is about time that I type out my usual request that you all...

**_REVIEW!_**


	8. Brainy's REAL Confession?

**A/N: **Yay! We're at our closing! ^_^ I dedicate this to ALL my lovely readers, even the ones who pretty much just read the first chapter and then abandoned it! To every last one of you that reviewed, and all the people who yelled at me and threw eggs at my house while I was sleeping, and told me the day I actually finished something was the day that penguins fly... Yeah, well, "Penguins of Madagaskar," ya bunch of terds! ;)

XD Seriously, though, I am dedicating this to all my wonderful readers who have taken the time to enjoy this fic and be patient with me, all the people who were kind enough to leave a review, all the people who favorited this or story alerted it, and all the support I've had from my wonderful friends. ^_^ I appreciate every last one of you. Every review, every favorite, every alert counts... and it really has meant a lot to me. ^_^ :)

So, now getting past all the mushy stuff... *Sniffles melodramatically and wipes tears from eyes with handkerchief* Go on and read! Over 7,000 words written for this chapter, and all for you. :D Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I SAID I DON'T OWN ANYTHIN,' FOO'! DON'T MAKE ME SICK MY DOG ON YOU! *Little chihuahua comes running out and barks his little squeaky bark at you***  
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****Brainy's Confession**

**Chapter 8**

Helga jumped in shock, quickly storing away her locket and bolting around to see a very odd looking Brainy standing behind her. "Brainy! Geez! Don't do that to me! I mean, I know it's your thing and all, but I thought we'd gotten past _this_!" She placed a hand over her rapidly beating heart, willing it to calm and taking in a deep breath with her eyes toward the sky, unwilling to look at him again just yet... Finally, though, after a few seconds of deep breaths, she managed to will her eyes toward the awkward boy. "S-So..." She began sheepishly, recalling very quickly what exactly it was he'd just caught her in the act of doing.

Brainy wheezed slightly... but other than that, he didn't respond. His eyes were downcast.

"Um..." Helga somehow managed to croak out awkwardly, now busying herself with rubbing her arm up and down with her hand. Her eyes lit up then and she feigned innocence as she grinned. "So, Brainy! I was just looking for you!" She laughed loudly and nervously after her rather loud exclamation, giving him a light and very weak (definitely unusual for her) punch in the shoulder, grinning.

Brainy simply wheezed again in response, his eyes coming up to look at her now. His expression was unreadable... Like it always was.

Helga maintained her grin a few seconds longer... before it finally just dissolved away and she was left standing there with a small half-frown on her face, glancing down and away from him... After a second she finally managed to drag her eyes back to his, for once actually feeling quite small under his searching gray eyes... and finally, she opened her mouth, and spoke, as enthusiastically and friendly as she could manage, "So, like I was saying, I was looking for you... because I wanted to talk to you... about... stuff..." She laughed very nervously then, really dreading this, before managing to continue on, finding it much easier to talk to him whilst many gesticulations and wandering eyes (That of course never met back with his own), "So, funny thing actually, Arnold actually told me he loves me now. I know! A real shocker, isn't it? Well, it just so happens, that I told him I kinda sorta loved him back, and that I'd break up with you so we could start dating each other exclusively! Isn't that funny? You know, I never did tell you about the perfume I planned on naming after us, did I? Yup! ArnoldAndHelga Perfume! It's gonna be great! Heh, heh, heh... And did I ever mention I have a SHRINE to him in my closet? Did I really not ever mention that? Because if I didn't, then, well... Wouldn't that just be _hilarious_? Since, you know, I DO! Because I'm just THAT freakishly in love with the boy! And that's kinda why I couldn't turn him down for you. It would kill me. Since, you know, this has practically been my DREAM since I was like... WHOO! Who knows anymore, right?" She laughed very loudly and awkwardly then, her gesticulations frozen in mid-air and her eyes finally somehow managing to come back to his...

Brainy just simply wheezed in response to all this, just a bit more loudly than before... and his expression still unreadable... though if Helga didn't know any better, she'd say it almost looked like he was... trying to fight off a smile?

Helga dismissed this thought as complete rubbish, though, since she knew he of course had to be completely heart broken... That thought only managed to set a large grimace on her face, and allow her frozen arms to droop slightly in their previous gesticulations, and of course for the slight nervous grin on her face to completely wince out into a small frown, teeth baring and all.

After several seconds of wheeze-filled silence, Helga finally just dropped her gesticulated-frozen arms completely to her sides, allowed herself to slump over slightly, and let her face drain from any sort of emotions other than sympathy and disappointment. "I'm so sorry it has to end like this, Brainy. I know how much you love me and how heart broken you must be now. But this is just how it has to be. I love Arnold, not you. And Arnold loves me now, so there's nothing keeping me in this relationship anymore. But you know, we can always be friends..." She awkwardly placed a hand on his shoulder then, wincing majorly on the inside over the dreaded 'friend' card.

But of course, the tears she'd expected, the loud wails, the crushing disappointment and broken hearted expressions... were not what happened at all...

No, instead, Brainy just wheezed a few more seconds, before an actual smile came to his face, even almost looking amused. "Uh... Helga...?"

Helga blinked a few times in shock, letting the hand on his shoulder tighten slightly a moment before she released her grip entirely and raised one side of her brow at the curious look on his face. "Um... _yeah_?"

Brainy wheezed a few more seconds, opening his mouth here and there only to be interrupted by another wheeze. Finally, he'd seemed to have had enough, and he quickly just pulled out his inhaler and took a few quick puffs, before just sticking it back in his pocket and looking at Helga with a small smile. "I love you, Helga. There's never been a question in my mind... but..." His eyes sparkled slightly behind his glasses. "...I'm really happy for you and Arnold. VERY happy. And I'm really glad Arnold finally came out with the fact that he loves you. I mean, it's been, what? Seven years and it took the two of you getting tossed into the sweat-filled jungles of San Lorenzo just to realize it?" Brainy actually _ROLLED_ his eyes. "And then he delays even MORE by pretending he has just NO clue that it's love when it's so obvious it IS. He was SO envious of you when we started dating. I mean, his eyes were practically aflame. Dense little imbecile... I apologize, Helga, but I will simply never understand what it is that you see in him... I mean, he's nice, I suppose, but is he really worth all that trouble, if after seven years he can't even figure out that you're in love with him? ...But I digress. It's your life." He shrugged, grinning at her shocked expression. "This has actually been my plan from the start. Have I ever mentioned I'm also an excellent actor?" He grinned, seeing Helga's jaw actually drop... so cute... "Oh, Helga..." He sighed, shaking his head slightly. "No need for words, my sweet, speechless little love. You're welcome... uh..." He blinked then, his words being cut off by his voice suddenly cracking back into it's usual dull deepness. He just blinked a few more times and then patted her on the shoulder before walking off...

...and leaving Helga a completely jaw-on-the-ground, eyes-popping-out-of-their-sockets, utterly in shock mess standing on the bridge. _'Say huh...?'_

She was utterly speechless. She couldn't even begin to THINK about words with all that her brain was currently struggling so hard to process...

Though, apparently, someone _else_ certainly wasn't shocked enough not to say _something_...

"'_My sweet, speechless little love_'?"

Helga, for a second time in only the last few minutes, was shocked into jumping around and coming to see yet another person she'd had no idea was behind her for the past who-knew-how-long. "_Arnold_?"

Indeed, Arnold was standing behind her, a slightly surprised and yet rather _irritated_ look on his face. "He just called you h-his 'sweet, speechless little love'! He-He actually called _you_ '_his_'!" The young boy seemed a bit too distracted with his jealousy to completely absorb the fact that Brainy had actually just admitted to having planned on getting himself and Helga together from the start. Indeed, judging by the narrowing of his eyes and twitching of his hands and slight sneer on his lips, Arnold seemed far too irritated by Brainy's closing words that he couldn't even begin to really process the rest of what he'd heard just yet...

Helga, though, finally seeming to come out of her shocked state, blinked several times at his words, barely even processing what he'd said in her surprise, and said the only thing she could think of at this point... "Where in the heck did you come from?"

* * *

After Arnold walked out of the park and away from Helga, his hands in his pockets and a half-lidded gaze on his face, he just proceeded to walk down the street in the direction of his home.

Though, after only a few minutes of peaceful walking, not too far from the park still, Arnold heard a phone ring and he turned his head to see the empty phone booth just across the street ringing. He blinked, stopping right in his tracks.

After a few seconds of simply staring at the ringing phone from across the street, his curiosity finally got the better of him and he finally just hurried his way across the street (Of course not before checking to make sure there were no cars coming), and grabbed the phone off the hook. "Hello?"

A deep, slightly raspy voice answered, the static of the old phone booth phone making it a bit difficult to identify who exactly it was. "It's me."

Nearly automatically, after only a few blinks, Arnold's first instinct was to chuckle a silent chuckle to himself and to put a playfully exasperated hand to his temple. "Helga, if this is you playing 'Deep Voice' on me again, I-"

"No, man, it's me, Gerald."

Arnold blinked at this, his smile dropping as well as his hand as he gripped the phone a bit tighter. "Gerald? How do you know I'm here? Where are you?"

He heard a crackled sigh sound from across the line and then the slightly raspy voice spoke again, "Arnold, you're standing right across the street from my house. I can see you through my window."

Arnold blinked at this little piece of information, and he found himself involuntarily glancing across the street to indeed see his best friend's brownstone, and the curtain to his window pulled aside to reveal a half-smiling Gerald with an arm supporting him on the table Arnold knew to be by his window with his other hand holding the phone to his ear. "O-Oh..." Arnold gave a sheepish grin then, waving to Gerald from his position across the street. "Sorry, Gerald... I didn't notice. I've been a little..." The memories of his recent encounter with Helga G. Pataki flashed pleasantly through his mind, and he barely even realized his voice taking on a slightly deeper, more dreamy tone... "...distracted, to say the least..." You could practically see the cartoonish hearts just floating around his head as he slumped against the back of the phone booth a bit in his daydreams.

The sound of someone loudly clearing their throat from across the line broke him of his daze, along with Gerald suddenly asking simply, "Helga?"

A blush suddenly blossomed across his cheeks. "Helga." He confirmed simply as well, glad his friend wasn't pressing him for details just yet... after all, things hadn't even been officially sorted out yet.

"Okay, man. I'd ask for details," Perhaps Arnold had spoken too soon. "but I actually don't really have the time at the moment. My parents forced _Timberly_ on me, and I kinda have to take her to Happy Cheeses in just a minute." As these words were spoken, Arnold was able to make out the sounds of a certain little girl's excited chatter in the background. Gerald's voice sounded a bit tired as he continued, "So I was hoping you could go down to the park and check on that plant I've been experimenting on for our Science projects. I poured a can of yahoo soda on it yesterday, and I needed to go down there today and see how it's doing, but I probably won't be getting back 'til real late. So could you do me a huge favor and just go look at it, and take a few notes about it. You know, all that Sciencey stuff - Growth progress, leaves, any new buds, bla bla bla, yada yada. You're smart about this kind of stuff, Arnold, you know what I mean."

Arnold blinked at this, before a small smile came to his face. He was never too busy to help a friend! "Of course, Gerald. No problem."

"Thanks, man. You're a real pal-OW! OW! Timberly, don't touch my hair! Sorry, man, I've gotta go. Timberly is getting restless." There was a deep sigh on the other end."Bye."

Before Arnold could get another word out, the phone was suddenly disconnected. Arnold blinked, bringing the phone away from his face to stare at a moment or two before he hung it up with a shrug and began off in the direction of the park once again. And then the idea of actually seeing Helga again (If she were still there... though he really hadn't been gone that long, when you got down to it) fluttered into his mind and he found himself breaking off into an eager run.

It didn't take him long to get there again, and once he was, he was elated to see that Helga was indeed still standing over on the bridge, right where he'd left her... but as he got closer, he began to realize, she was not alone... He halted in his tracks as the figure was finally recognized, and bits of their conversation began to drift to his ears... Neither Brainy nor Helga seemed to realize his presence...

"-eyes were practically aflame. Dense little imbecile..." Arnold's ears perked at the insult, not quite knowing who he was speaking of just yet, but the idea that he was speaking of Helga made a fire light in his belly. But nonetheless, he listened, not too keen on the idea of interrupting what was obviously a kind of important conversation between the object of his affections and her b-boyfriend... "I apologize, Helga, but I will simply never understand what it is that you see in him... I mean, he's nice, I suppose, but is he really worth all that trouble, if after seven years he can't even figure out that you're in love with him?" Arnold's heart sank as he realized just who the insult was being directed at... himself. And oh how it hurt that he actually had a... point. "...But I digress. It's your life." He saw through hurt eyes as Brainy shrugged, a smile on his pale face. "This has actually been my plan from the start. Have I ever mentioned I'm also an excellent actor?" Arnold's jaw dropped slightly at this little bit of information, his hurt long forgotten; lost in a sea of shock and realizations that he couldn't even _begin_ to absorb at the moment. Regardless of his shock, though, Brainy continued, clearly still oblivious to his presence. "Oh, Helga..." He saw the boy sigh and smile. "No need for words, my sweet, speechless little love." And thus all shock and hurt and anything else he could have possibly been feeling or thinking was completely erased from his mind, replaced with nothing but twitching and tensing and clenching teeth. The ending of Brainy's speech was lost to him, and all he was aware of was his fists... and how wonderful it would feel to just... throw them at something! Preferably very pale and dorky!

Though his tense stature prevented him from making any move or sound before Brainy walked off, Arnold finally managed to at least say something after a few seconds... pretty much the only thing running through his mind at the moment. "'_My sweet, speechless little love'_?" These words were said very incredulously, and with no slight amount of irritation in his voice and eyes.

His words apparently shocked Helga out of whatever state of _previous_ shock she was in, because she jumped around to him, a completely new set of shock now flashing across her face. "_Arnold_?"

Being far too lost in the current waves of irritation and jealousy and horror currently running through him, Arnold simply elaborated on his previous words, "He just called you h-his 'sweet, speechless little love'! He-He actually called _you_ '_his_'!" Arnold felt his eye twitch a bit and his teeth grinding against each other slightly.

Helga just blinked at him several times and said the only thing she could think to say at the moment, "Where in the heck did you come from?"

Arnold answered her absent-mindedly, barely even glancing at her, "Oh, I just came down here to check on Gerald's plant." His eyes narrowed a little then. "And to hear _Brainy_ call you _his love_..." His pursed lips shook a bit. "As if _he's_ the only one who's ever loved you. I-I mean, just because I took as long as I did to realize it doesn't mean he has anymore of a right to you than _me_. I have feelings too. I-I mean, I-I know I don't really d-deserve you, but darn it, you picked _me_. Only me. A-And he knew it, I'm sure, but that didn't stop him from calling you _his love_. Oh _no_." He rolled his eyes, his eyes narrowed quite a bit, and still not quite looking at Helga, he was so lost in his rant. "I-I mean, I know he's loved you just as long as you've loved me, b-but so? That doesn't mean you're meant for each other or-or anything. I mean, just 'cause you have all this stuff in common and he's all talented and smart and good with words, and I'm, well... _not_, d-doesn't mean _we're_ not just as compatible. Right? I-I mean we have lots in common! We both l-like poetry, and like scary movies, and-and have blonde hair... and both our mom's have blue eyes! That's something! A-And also, I mean... we both like yahoo soda! And going to the arcade, and baseball, and football, and stuff... I-I mean, so what if he can write poetry and I can't? I-I could if I wanted to. It's just a bunch of pretty words on a p-page, right? Who says I _couldn't_ do that? I-I-I mean, maybe not as adeptly as him, but I-"

"Arnold," Helga interrupted him, finally having come out of her state of shock completely now and seriously trying not to giggle at how cute and jealous he was acting with his little rant and twitching.

"HUH?" Arnold was just so lost in his rant that hearing Helga suddenly interrupt him like that, with that sweet little voice with lovely laughter underlying it as she spoke his name (Did he mention he had a new appreciation for his name now? And after only having heard her say it like that once?), completely shocked him and broke him of his rant and this little high-pitched exclamation couldn't help but burst from his mouth, with just a tint of fear to it... fear that she'd change her mind about him... _'Stupid, stupid, stupid. You basically just listed off all the reasons why Brainy is better than you!_' He groaned mentally, while on the outside he just stood there with that slight surprise and fear in his eyes.

Helga didn't seem to notice the slight fear growing in his light green eyes, though, and so at his exclamation she simply burst into giggles. She couldn't help it. Nearly everything Arnold ever did just made her want to giggle so badly... no matter how _feminine_ an action it was... Her love for him and his cuteness couldn't help but win out against her need to maintain an image now that Arnold knew all about her love for him. "Oh, Arnold..." She ended with a sigh and smile. "You have no reason to be jealous of Brainy. I love _you_, and that's what counts isn't it?" She smiled a little brighter, the fact that she was now a free girl just starting to hit her as she approached Arnold and stood directly in front of him now, her arms crossed over her chest and that smile still on her face.

Though Arnold's fear was a bit deeper than that. It couldn't just be waved off that quickly, because... Well, this had been going on for _weeks_, and they really had gotten along very well... Brainy holding her hand and kissing her cheek and Helga just smiling and going along with it. Ever since day one of this whole fiasco, Arnold's jealousy at all the time they'd spent together had grown stronger and stronger, and after only a few days, his jealousy had started to manifest into an entirely new feeling to him... fear. He knew he'd been dragging his feet a little about this whole 'feelings' thing, but, really... He couldn't help it! She was the most complicated person he'd ever met, so it made sense that any feelings anyone might feel for her would be pretty complicated too. Ever since San Lorenzo, he'd been feeling completely tangled and frazzled and utterly confused. He'd told himself it was probably just the heat at the time, in the jungle, and that once they got home things would make more sense... but they hadn't. Things had still been complicated and confusing and he'd still felt trapped in some weird... thing... At the time he couldn't even begin to describe what it was, but after a few weeks of feeling like this, he'd finally allowed himself to admit that he'd come to have some kind of messed up crush on Helga G. Pataki... Some weird feelings had managed to creep their way into his little heart during their stay in San Lorenzo. And though he couldn't quite figure what they were, he knew they were there. It was then he'd started gazing at her from across the lunch room and doodling little hearts in his notebook and dreaming about her at night... but he was just too terrified to make a move. After all, what was he supposed to say? "Hey, Helga, I have feelings for you! Are they love, you ask? I have _no_ idea! So... wanna date me?" Yeah, right... He wasn't that type of guy. He'd just wanted to sort them out before he did anything... He didn't just want to blindly act upon something he didn't even understand. What would be the point in that? Trying to blindly romance a girl who actually _loved_ him with feelings he wasn't even sure what were, just so he could get the last kiss? That would have just been selfish, and completely unfair to Helga, he'd thought. No, it just wasn't right.

But whilst he dilly-dallied and these strange feelings swirled around in his head, Brainy had come out of nowhere and publicly embarrassed Helga by announcing his love in front of... everyone. Himself included. And despite still being unsure of his intentions towards the golden haired girl, he could recall how his heart had stopped... his hands had instantly become slippery with sweat and had completely failed out on him... his teeth had clenched and his eyes had widened... and then she'd fainted, and he'd caught her and just stared at Brainy with questioning eyes... How could he have popped up with something so completely out of left-field THEN? When he'd still been trying to figure out how he felt...

At first, Arnold hadn't believed they'd last too long. After all, how long could it take for Helga to get bored of someone as plain and quiet as Brainy?

But then he'd seen how Brainy looked at her, how Helga actually seemed to enjoy talking to him, how Brainy liked to slip his hand into hers and hug her... How they'd actually found a lot in common with each other. And Arnold had felt all his hopes that they'd crash and burn die. And that was when this... fear had started edging it's way into his heart to go along with all the _other_ confusing feelings.

And now that he'd come to accept his feelings and, in effect, accept this fear, Arnold couldn't help but feel pretty... hurt.

Brainy and Helga had so much in common and Brainy had loved her far longer than Arnold, and... _That_ was his fear. That Helga would start to see things like that too and stop... loving him...

Arnold's lips trembled slightly, his eyes still wide with this growing fear just completely flooding his brain... Finally, he responded to her question, quietly... "I-I... I don't... think so..."

Helga's smile actually disappeared at this completely unexpected answer, before it reappeared (Though not as strong as before) and she giggled, taking another step towards him. "Very funny, Arnold. Of course it's what counts! I don't love Brainy. I mean, I enjoy talking to him and he's a nice guy that I have a lot in common with, but he's just not-"

"Helga, that's exactly my point!" Arnold suddenly burst, his voice sounding so very fearful and hurt and confused and even a little... sad. "You and Brainy have _SO_ much more in common than you do with me. You both write poetry, you're both insanely intelligent, you both love reading and art and you're both really creative, and you both get along so well. What do _I_ have, really? I mean, we've never really gotten along and I can't write poetry like him and I'm smart I guess but not intelligent and I... I haven't loved you for as long as him, and maybe even not as much... You deserve SO much better than me, Helga. And Brainy seems to just have it all! Why in the world would you give someone like that up for someone like _me_? When you have someone else who loves you that you have so much more in common with?" He knew he was probably putting ideas into her head, but he couldn't help it. He just... didn't understand, and he... loved her too much to allow her to just let an opportunity like this pass her by... and for _him_.

Helga, though, was utterly speechless after his little speech for quite a few seconds... her face blank... before she stated simply, "I know."

Arnold blinked at this strange answer, seeming to not really answer either of his questions... before it hit him that she was talking about his speech as a whole, and he felt his heart freeze up. "Huh?" Did she... Was she... '_Ohhhh_...'

Helga stated it again, "I know." With this out there now, she pushed some hair up that had managed to droop down into his face slightly during his distressed little speech. She spoke once more then after finishing this small task, something strange in her eyes as she spoke, "I know that I have so much more in common with Brainy. We like the same books and we both write poetry and we can both get pretty passionate sometimes about things and we're both apparently pretty darn good actors..." Arnold's heart wept as she said this, though on the outside he simply stared away. "...but I don't care." Arnold's eyes widened at this and shot back over to Helga, seeing her just smiling at him a little tenderly now. "_Brainy_ is not the one that I love. And just because you have a lot of stuff in common with someone doesn't mean you automatically have feelings for them. I tried having feelings for him, I did, and I felt a little weird around him, but now, looking back on it, I just felt awkward because he had feelings for me that I didn't return. You know, it was like kissing your friend's cheek and holding your friend's hand and being intimately hugged by your _friend_..." An actual shudder passed through her, and it caused Arnold's eyes to widen even more. "I like Brainy, I won't deny that. But it just wasn't in a romantic way... _at all_. I mean, I like talking to him every once in a while and discussing poetry and all that, but I never felt the sparks I do when I'm talking to you... I didn't feel the butterflies swarming around in my stomach like I do when I'm near you... I didn't ever think about how nice it would be to kiss him or how much I'd just love to get a hug from him or how much I'd just love to... weave my fingers through his beautiful flaxen hair..." As she said these words she, in her slight daze now, ran her fingers through Arnold's indeed quite flaxen colored hair (A very different color from Brainy's EXTREMELY pale blonde hair... nearly platinum, actually...), causing him to tremble slightly from such an unexpected and (Surprisingly) warming feeling. Helga seemed to shake herself of her daze pretty quickly, though, as she shyly brought her hand away and continued on, "I just... didn't feel anything other than friendship, really, Arnold... I mean, you had a lot in common with Lila and you liked her, but she didn't just automatically like you because you two amazingly both liked to read _books_." She rolled her eyes, her mouth smiling ever so slightly. "Chemistry is a little more... complex than just that, Arnold. I mean, I love you for a lot of reasons, and most of the things I love about you are traits that I sure as heck don't own... and that's part of what makes it so attractive. That it's different. I mean, you're kind and trustworthy and helpful, and I'm, well..." She snorted a little. "Not." She rolled her eyes to herself. "But those are some of the key reasons I love you. Our differences are what make us click so well. Kinda like... yin and yang. Am I piercing through any of that old denseness you're still so stubbornly clinging to, Football Head?"

Arnold just blinked, still a bit dazed from suddenly having her hand run through his hair like that, though he did manage to reply (Thank goodness), "Y-Yeah, actually... I've never really thought about it like that before..." His dazed eyes suddenly turned pensive as they shifted down slightly and his brow creased a bit in deep thought. "But it... actually does make sense. I-I just always thought that liking someone was all based around what kind of stuff you had in common, but now that you mention it... I guess we do have a lot of differences between us... B-But, that didn't stop me from falling for you. Actually, all it really did I think was _make_ me fall for you, now that I think about it." Despite the thoughtfulness in his gaze and tone, a bit of a blush pricked at his cheeks at admitting yet again out loud that he had, in fact, fallen for her... hard.

Helga beamed, happy she'd gotten across to him. "Exactly. And it's not like we don't have ANYTHING in common. We both like horror movies and taking walks and reading poetry and just reading in general. You know, we've got some common ground to walk on." She clasped her hands behind her back, smiling a half-smile.

An actual smile actually came to Arnold's face at this, the thoughtfulness of his eyes fading away into love. "Yeah..."

Helga just stared back at him for a while, her own smiling eyes starting to fade away into daydreams the longer she stared at him. "Yeah... And hey!" Her eyes lit up again. "Brainy really doesn't have any intention at courting me after all. I don't know how long you were standing there behind me, but Brainy actually told me that this entire 'giving him a chance' thing has actually been a scheme of his from the start. So all this time all he's been trying to do is get your motor burning a little." She nudged him with her elbow teasingly, grinning.

Arnold's eyes also lit up at this little reminder, and he took a small 'innocent' step towards her in his excitement. "Yeah, I actually did hear that. But I got kinda distracted with that... other thing he said... _My_ love." He managed a smile at the possessive and how very nice it felt to get a bit of a one up on Brainy, despite his now severe blushing problem...

Just as predicted, it caused Helga to go wide-eyed for a few seconds, before she broke down and just blushed and giggled. After only a few seconds, though, Helga simply grinned into his blushing face as she said quite suggestively, her eyes half-lidded, "Yeah, and now I'm single again... _officially_..." She stepped a teensy bit closer to him.

Arnold, despite his blushing, couldn't help his eyes going half-lidded also, and feeling his feet almost involuntarily drift a bit closer to her too. "_Really_...? What an interesting bit of information _that_ is..."

Helga giggled at his flirting, as she stepped just a little closer to him, her eyes going even more half-lidded (If that was even possible without her having to just downright shut her eyes all together). "Yeah, it is... So... Wha'cha gonna do about it, _My _love?" She couldn't help popping the 'V' there a bit off of her bottom lip with her teeth, just to see his reaction to such obvious flirting on her own part... and smirking quite a bit...

Arnold only chuckled, though, his half-lidded eyes turning a bit loving at the affectionate name being returned. "_Well_..." He said just a tad coyly, clasping his hands behind himself as he continued to gaze at her. "I guess the first thing I'd like to do is ask you if you'd be interested in..." His eyes traveled away a bit for a second or two, before traveling back to her warm blue eyes, his voice so very low now as he dragged out the last of his little query, "...you know... having the label of 'single' being erased so soon...? I mean, if you were _interested_, that is..."

Helga just gazed back into his green eyes, feeling the heat of his breath pricking at her face, tempting her further and further as she leaned in... "Oh, yes, I think you could say that... _Very interested, _indeed..." She held back a delighted giggle at what was currently happening.

Arnold's charming grin only grew as he also leaned in, his breath becoming just a bit labored at how close he was to her lips. "Well then... I guess that takes care of that then... girlfriend..."

'_OHHHH!_' Helga just simply couldn't take it anymore, especially not after hearing him call her that, and she just grabbed him by his collar (A quite handy invention, indeed, now that she had the chance to fully appreciate it's value) and pulled him the last few inches in to connect his lips with her own, and to completely, hungrily press hers passionately into his own.

Arnold responded immediately (For once, though he supposed he really had already been anticipating it and was about a hair away from just pulling _her_ in _himself_), pressing his lips into hers and his arms immediately attaching themselves around her waist and closing his already-half-closed eyes as their lips moved as one... passionately and lovingly and tenderly...

There were a few seconds of peaceful, passionate silence as the two of them continued getting lost in each other...

"WHAT THE-"

The sound of a little girl's giggles sounded after the completely flabbergasted shout, both of which completely broke through whatever spell that had been set over them and caused Helga to immediately push away from Arnold and snap her eyes open to see Gerald standing not too far away with a finger raised and a kind of disgusted look on his face, along with a giggling Timberly by his side. "Man, Timberly just said she wanted to come down to the park to play a little before we go to Happy Cheeses, and I come down here to try and tell you that you don't have to do me that favor after all, and during my peaceful (or somewhat peaceful considering _Timberly_ is here) little stroll, I, with absolutely NO warning, get my eyes assaulted by the two of you going at it on the bridge." He palmed his face. "Man, I'm torn between being happy you two finally got together or just vomiting right here and now." He let his hands drop now and he stuck his tongue out with a grimace.

Arnold and Helga both said nothing to this, both their faces bright red and their eyes still quite wide in shock and embarrassment at being caught like that... especially Arnold's...

Finally, though, after a few more face palms and Timberly's insane giggles and laughter at their blushes, Gerald just let out a sigh and put a hand to Timberly's back, beginning to lead her away. "Come on, Tim. Let's leave the crazy people to have their fun."

Timberly pouted at that, looking over her shoulder at the two still tomato-faced blondes. "Awwwww, Gerald, do we _have to_?"

"_Yes_, Timberly, I'll just check on my plant on the way back home, now come on. I'll buy you some extra game tokens when we get to Happy Cheeses." Came the voice of the exasperated but trying to be patient older brother.

"Oooooh! More tokens? _Yay_!"

And so the two walked farther and farther away, soon disappearing completely out of eye-sight.

...Even after a full thirty seconds of just standing there, utterly alone again, the two of them just couldn't find it in themselves to say anything...

Finally, though, the bold boy next to Helga turned his head _very_ slightly towards her in a small, embarrassed, blushing glance. "Um... Shall we... never speak of this again?"

"Yes." Was Helga's immediate, not-looking-at-him-at-_all_ answer.

Arnold let out a sigh, willing his blush away now that the peak of his embarrassment had thankfully passed. "Good. Now let's go back to my place, huh? We can have pizza and maybe make things between us even more..." He gulped at what he was about to say, but went through with it despite himself since his heart was still pounding from their last kiss... "_official_..."

Helga actually perked up at the idea, and she turned to him with a slight, casual smile. "Sounds like a plan, Football Head. I love pizza."

Arnold smiled back, doing his best to ignore his seemingly never ending blush, and already beginning off the bridge and off in the direction of his house, Helga right by his side. "Y-Yeah, me too."

Helga smirked. "Awesome. More common ground already."

The two kids just walked out of the park then, off into the direction of the boarding house, happily together finally after so many complications to something that was actually... very simple when you got down to it.

And while the two of them had no idea what was ahead of them for the future, they at least knew that for this current moment in time... everything was perfect.

And that was all that mattered for now. Thinking on it any further would just... complicate things.

And really? Who wanted _that_?

* * *

**A/N: **And then Brainy met Astrid and they had an epic freakin' make out session whilst Arnold and Helga did the same. And they all lived _happily ever after_! YAAAAAAAY! XD

Lol, seriously, though, I could NOT resist having Gerald interrupt their kiss! In the version of TJM in this fic, Arnold fell for Helga but he didn't confess, so that means Gerald never interrupted their epic kiss at the end of the movie... :O Now, I couldn't have that, now could I? XD Gerald HAD to interrupt! It was inevitable, and you all know it! XD XD XD

And seriously, don't worry about Brainy. He completely understands everything and he's not heartbroken, really. He knew this was going to happen from the start, this was his PLAN! So he's just happy the two dense little idiots finally got their butts in gear. XD XD XD And don't worry, like I said, in my universe, Brainy meets Astrid after he hits about twelve and falls hopelessly in love with her, and vice-versa... XD So basically, Brainy moves on, so no worries. :3

Lol, well, that's the ending and-O_O O_O O_O Holy... freaking... vampire... crap...

_I ACTUALLY FINISHED A CHAPTER STORY_! _AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH_!

I-I mean, there was "Love Remains the Same," but that was only TWO chapters. It doesn't count! I-I mean, this one was EIGHT! Do you people have ANY idea what this means?

IT MEANS THAT THERE IS HOPE FOR ME YET! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D I'M NOT SOME COMPLETELY HOPELESS WANNABE WRITER WHO CAN'T EVER FINISH ANYTHING! I. ACTUALLY. FINISHED. THIS. FREAKIN'. STORY! ! ! ! !

*Passes out from total elation*

Congratulate _SuprSingr_ for not being completely hopeless by going ahead and leaving a...

_**REVIEW!**_


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